23 May Army of the Dead Review by Jim washburn

BLUF: Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead is a pretty fun, well-made zombie that overstays its welcome, but would have
been considered a masterpiece if it had come out closer to his 2004 Dawn of the Dead.

Hollywood goes in cycles with genres, and zombies enjoyed a solid run for about a decade in the early 2000s, and
included films like Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, the Resident Evil franchise (which arguably sunk the genre as the films
got…very bad), and, of course, Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, a remake that fundamentally reimagined many aspects
of the genre in a fun, gory film. Dawn of the Dead was a focused, well-executed film, combining genuine horror, humor, and some
great character work in a tight 100 minutes.

The story of Army of the Dead is relatively simply: a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas has left the city populated entirely by the undead,
and a casino owner hires a crew to sneak in and steal $200 million from his vault, promising a 25% cut to the leader of the
crew, played by Dave Bautista. As expected, the plan goes sideways, but the route to get there is solidly entertaining for a
zombie movie and has some decent twists along the way. The core conceit is basically a flawless genre pitch that Netflix
understandably jumped all over.

In his first lead role, I really enjoy Bautista, who is growing as an actor with almost every role. He infuses this role with
everything he’s got, and it pays off as his character’s subtle emotional cues successfully combine with his classically
portrayed attributes of being a giant badass action star. Other characters are equally entertaining, a mandatory requirement
in every heist flick with a crew. Particularly impressive was Tig Notaro’s helicopter pilot, as she filmed the entire role on
green screen months later during the pandemic and was digitally inserted into the film, replacing an actor who had some
serious sexual allegations lodged against him. It is seamless, and Notaro gives the funniest performance in the film.
Weakest was Bautista’s on-screen daughter, Kate, played by Ella Purnell. She is saddled with some terrible dialogue, as
well as an all-too-frequent requirement to bear the mantle of some absurd narrative contortions.

Snyder’s return to the genre after a 10-year run with DC superhero films bears the scars of his time getting creatively
brutalized by Warner Brothers. While the story’s concept is fantastic (a heist film inside a hard-core zombie movie), Army of the Dead
is too long at 2.5 hours. And while the plethora of characters are moderately-to-very-well-developed, there is an over-
riding lack of the kind of fun Snyder infused into Dawn of the Dead; it brings the affair down a bit. There are a few subplots that take
too long, vis-a-vis: invested screen time vs story/character payoff, and it just hints at a general imbalance compared to
Dawn of the Dead. Finally, zombie movies and heist flicks are tired genres that are generally in a state of dormancy after years of
overuse—and combining two tired genres does not necessarily combine to make a winning genre movie.

Those are my only real critiques, and they are not inconsequential, but the fact is that I quite enjoyed this movie. In
addition to some fun characters, it is technically proficient; it expands on general zombie lore in some creative and
interesting ways; and has a handful of fun easter eggs scattered throughout the entire movie. All of this combined to keep
me entertained and, currently, enjoying a second viewing on Netflix. I did see the film in a theater, and aside from the joy
of watching something on the big screen, it was also exciting to know that two days later I could watch the movie as many
times as I want on Netflix. The second time through I noticed a lot of fun easter eggs, including multiple references to
Aliens, a shoutout to Snyder’s DC cinematographer Larry Fong (who Snyder himself replaced in Army of the Dead), and a ton of
cliché Vegas tropes that are entertainingly twisted through Snyder’s vision.

For a new IP in a very old genre, I recommend Army of the Dead, albeit with the understanding that Snyder’s style has come to
embrace excessive runtimes at the expense of concise storytelling. I think he could really benefit from a sympathetic
editor—someone who understands and supports his vision but has the objective skill to cut out the deadweight, leaving a
tighter, more focused film; this would have helped with Zack Snyder’s Justice League too. All the same, a technically
proficient, unhinged zombie movie will almost always have something to entertain everyone.

Pros:
 A heist movie in a zombie movie is fundamentally a fun concept
 Some solid performances backing a diverse, classic heist crew
 Some creative twists on zombie lore
 Snyder’s unhinged creative control largely succeeds, unless you don’t like his style
Cons:
 Heist flicks (especially post Rick and Morty) and zombie flicks are tired genres at the moment
 Too long
 Some story components exceed plausible suspension of disbelief, even for a zombie flick

Rating: 3.5/5
A better-than-average zombie flick whose only faults lie in excessive runtime facilitating superfluous subplots

Review by Jim Washburn