Netflix’s major 2021 summer tent-pole was this Zack Snyder directed zombie blow-out. Containing a reported $70 million worth of elaborate production design, explosions and state-of-the-art CGI, ARMY OF THE DEAD wasn’t cheap (Netflix’s outsized hopes for the film are evident in two prequels that await release), and has a 2½ hour runtime that portends something epic. How disappointing, then, that the film, for all its flash and fury, is quite unremarkable in most respects, being essentially ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) with zombies.
Snyder, riding high from the March 18, 2021 release of ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE, begins ARMY OF THE DEAD with one of his patented ironic opening credits montages, depicting an ultra-slow motion zombie conflagration underscored by a “Viva Las Vegas” cover. The setting is Las Vegas, where an epidemic of ultra-fast moving zombies has taken hold (and inspiring numerous pandemic references in the form of quarantine rules and temperature checks), leading to a decision by the President to nuke Vegas on July 4.
Scott Ward, a former mercenary, is contracted by one Mr. Tanaka, the millionaire owner of a still-standing Vegas casino, who wants Ward to steal several million dollars in cash from a safe under the tower on July 3. Ward agrees, and puts together a crew that includes a snarky helicopter pilot, a nerdy German safecracker, a corrupt cop and Ward’s own estranged daughter. Their odyssey involves slow moving “shambler” and musclebound “alpha” zombies, an auditorium full of hibernating deaders, a zombie couple named Queen and Zeus who lord over their fellows, a series of deadly booby traps, an undead tiger and the unfortunate fact that the scheduled nuking of Las Vegas has been moved up 24 hours.
All of this is quite diverting. The action is plentiful and well handled, and looks damn good. Snyder, who acted as his own cinematographer, provides soft and wistful imagery with a very shallow depth of field (meaning only a portion of each shot is in focus), yet still makes sure to include shots of people silhouetted against pretty sunsets and slow motion carnage. Of the latter there’s a goodly amount, as we’ve come to expect from zombie cinema, and Snyder isn’t squeamish about putting his protagonists in harms’ way, and/or killing them off indiscriminately.
The editing could have stood to be tightened (the film is at least an hour too long), as could the script, a hodgepodge of not-always-harmonious elements that loses all semblance of plausibility in the final scenes (fact: you cannot outrun, much less outfly, an atomic bomb blast!). One wishes James Gunn, who scripted Snyder’s 2004 DAWN OF THE DEAD remake and was reportedly approached to write ARMY OF THE DEAD, had taken the job, as I believe he’d have done better.
In the lead role Dave Bautista is solid, but his part is underwritten (with some perfunctory father-daughter drama being all we get in terms of Human Interest). The same can be said for the rest of the cast, which includes the Mexican actress Ana de la Reguera, the German marquee star Matthias Schweighöfer and comedian Tig Notaro (famously inserted via digital compositing into a role played initially by Chris D’Elia), who in true Hollyweird fashion are called upon to play types (the babe assassin, the nerd, the officious turncoat, etc.) rather than characters. They fit in well, though, with a film that is, frankly, pretty stupid throughout—but I promise it will hold your attention.
Vital Statistics
ARMY OF THE DEAD
Netflix/Stone Quarry
Director: Zack Snyder
Producers: Deborah Snyder, Wesley Coller, Zack Snyder
Screenplay: Zack Snyder, Shay Hatten, Joby Harold
Cinematography: Zack Snyder
Editing: Dody Dorn
Cast: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi, Samantha Win, Richard Cegtrone