Army of the Dead (2021) Review

 

Army of the Dead (2021)

Army of the Dead follows a group of mercenaries hired to infiltrate zombie infested Las Vegas to pull off a heist before the government nukes the city. 

Zack Snyder’s second foray into zombie movies, if it wasn’t obvious yet, really aims to set itself apart from most zombie flicks (a begrudgingly trodden genre at this point). It changes up the whole apocalypse thing and localizes to just Las Vegas, which is a nice creative choice and one that certainly makes for some interesting set pieces. Story wise, I guess I get it: There’s money in Vegas. Get it out before the government blows the place to hell. Live rich and happy. Not enough is told about the rest of the story though to fill in the blanks. There seems to be loads of unnecessary dialogue, backstory elements that go nowhere, and (seemingly) rewritten parts that just stick out as if they were thrown in last second. It’s not a total disjointed mess but a lot of it is. 

I feel like an opportunity was really missed to bring to life the vibrancy of Vegas, and instead it’s all replaced with a poor shade of concrete brown that makes a lot of the outside scenes especially look dull and lifeless (technically it is, it’s just not fun to look at). 

The rest of the movie, from an action standpoint is relatively great and I was surprised at the earnesty of the characters in their situation. Scott’s story coming full circle from him having to kill his wife, to his daughter having to kill him, was also a respectful send off for the star of the movie. 

The movie has a fairly solid cast, featuring Ella Purnell, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ana de la Reguera, Omari Hardwick, Nora Arnezeder, and Dave Bautista. Bautista is surprisingly heartfelt, while always showing out as a badass. Hardwick and Schweighöfer also had arguably my favorite connection on screen, I could watch a whole movie of them just being friends. Tig Notaro sticks out like a sore thumb. I understand the circumstances surrounding Chris D’Elia’s firing, but honestly I wish Snyder would’ve just kept him in instead of swapping him out in post. She never feels part of the action and often comes off as super sharp (and short) within the blurry depth of field in the movie.

Army of the Dead, directed by Zack Snyder, contains the usual heart and poeticism of his movies, and that, coupled with the stylistic zombie shoot-em-up theatrics, makes the deadly wasteland of Las Vegas an interesting backdrop for an enjoyable movie, though it does feel a bit generically bland. 

7.3/10