Review: Zack Snyder's 'Army of the Dead' is a Gory, Fun Mess

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!!!

Zack Snyder and Netflix came together to bring fans a crazy heist movie set in zombie filled Las Vegas. Army of the Dead marks Snyder’s return to the zombie genre since 2004’s Dawn of the Dead remake. Fans of the remake will notice many similarities between the two films. Such as the opening montage with a lounge style version of “Viva Las Vegas” playing in the background. Think, “Get Down With the Sickness” from Dawn of the Dead. Look out Elvis!

The opening is fast paced, creative, informative and surprisingly heartfelt. It does a great job of explaining the outbreak and getting through the fall of Vegas very quickly. However, the pace seems to slow down drastically when the film gets into its actual story, or stories, that it is trying to sell to the audience.

Army of the Dead stars Dave Bautista, Omari Hardwick, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Raúl Castillo, Nora Arnezeder, Matthias Schweighöfer, Samantha Win, Tig Notaro and Rich Cetrone. Scott Ward (Bautista) is the aging mercenary who is tasked with putting together the team to get into Vegas and crack a full safe at the request of a mysterious man, Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada).

Ward’s estranged daughter Kate (Ella Purnell) works as a volunteer at the nearby quarantine zone and helps to get them into the city. The common theme of loss and strained relationship plays out just how you think it will throughout the film. However, this isn’t the only relationship they try to flesh out during the film.

The things that work about this film are what make Snyder films fun: blood, gore, guns and explosions galore. The zombies are different and organized. They have taken over Vegas and created a kingdom of the undead, complete with a king and queen zombie. As the team moves through the city towards their payday they have to learn to play by the rules of the kingdom.

Snyder has layered in clues about where this zombie virus comes from, from mysterious lights in the sky, to weird glowing blood and eyes. Either way these zombies aren’t just hordes of mindless undead. These are the alphas of the zombie species, they are fast and skilled. Tig Notaro’s performance always feels just a beat off from the rest of the film. Theres nothing specifically that points to this however, she just never feels in sync with the other characters.

But credit where credit is due, it had to be hard to act in an ensemble cast when it’s just you and a lot of green walls. Now things also get messy with the visuals around her character. It’s understandable that the shots were blurred in the background to account for adding Notaro’s character but it felt jarring at times. The special effects team really stands out for the tiger sequence. Not only did we get a zombie tiger, but we also get a gory good mauling.

Now, let’s get into what doesn’t work about this film: the plot, or plots. The film desperately tries to add multiple dramatic elements that are not needed. Fans were excited for this film to see an action packed gory good time this film delivers on that. However, Snyder attempts to bring a dramatic element to this story that never fully materializes and doesn’t feel necessary to the overall story.

At one point it seems like they decided they needed one more love story and just added it in the last minute. They move through dramatic sequences so abruptly, that you almost forget what the scene was even about. Therefore making the dramatic scenes completely unnecessary. Moreover, they pull our attention in too many directions that don’t matter much in the end. There are also a number of parallels between Army and Dawn of the Dead. Zombie babies, father-daughter relationship and themes of love in the time of zombies all made their way into Army of the Dead.

Ultimately, this film will give you the feeling of Vegas, but can’t stay on track long enough to give you the payout viewers need for this type of film. The chaotic plot and number of issues the team faces keeps Army of the Dead from feeling like a heist movie or a horror movie.

Army of the Dead gives its viewers plenty of zombies and explosions, but it’s hard to focus on these things due to the sheer number of storylines they try to pack into two and a half hours. Overall it feels like Snyder and Army of the Dead would have benefitted from streamlining their story down a bit. 3/5

★★★

But what happens in Vegas, never really stays in Vegas. At the close of the film the virus is headed to Mexico City. So will we see a sequel that sees Mexico City being walled off by shipping containers? We will have to wait and see. But for now you can check out Army of the Dead now in theaters and streaming only on Netflix. As always, be sure to follow ScaryNerd for more of all things horror, sci-fi and more.