Say what you have to but the Army of the Dead movie entertains you. It doesn’t go heavy in the feels as most of Zack Snyder’s other creations do. It is supposed to be consumed like a light entertainer. Didn’t you miss zombie flicks? Well, Army of the Dead at least walks in as a savior.
The drama is laughable and the shoddy acting just adds fuel to the fire. You cannot take anything seriously, but wasn’t that already dictated right from the very beginning? From the point where the movie walked in with its poster? The neon treatment felt as if it was right off a comic book.
Talking about the poster, the wallpapers, and trailers they remind you of Suicide Squad, or Birds of Prey, or even Wonder Woman 1984 for that to matter, thereby lacing the theme of Army of the Dead, that it was supposed to be a comic wild joyride not to be taken too seriously. That’s what it is precisely.
The good thing about Army of the Dead is that it is constantly unsettling, unnerving, and thrilling. Keeps you hooked. Is fueled by some crazy gore, with a similar zombie concept that we had once seen in I Am Legend.
Unlike I am Legend, Army of the Dead isn’t serious. People act extremely dumb by doing really dumb stuff, and you are like – are they for real? But the good news is that it does open up portals for sequels and spinoffs and it is not hard to see games being developed around the concept. Someone is going to make a lot of money. That’s a given.
The Story and Direction of Army of the Dead
Unfortunately, Army of the Dead doesn’t carry a great plot. The whole story boils down to an in and out bank job in a Zombie ridden Las Vegas. That’s it! That’s the whole setup. Everything that gets added feels badly accumulated.
The direction of the movie feels undercooked. What could have become a really serious flick about the Alphas ends up becoming a petty brawl between alphas and humans.
Even in all its seriousness, the movie feels comic. I am surprised how BvS felt less comic. Even with its character development, you couldn’t care less about the characters in the movie as they die one by one. Some of the women’s roles are iconic. They are portrayed in great light.
The frames carry Zack’s iconic cinematography interlaced with his stunning filters. He loves his sun shots and they are quite evident. I still feel the writing of the movie could have been better and a little less cliched. Action scenes could have been carved better too.
Dave Bautista as the Team Lead (Spoilers)
To be honest, it felt like a misfire. Even though the idea of Dave acting as a lead feels rich, watching him trying to shed those crocodile tears felt very deliberate. He plays Scott Ward, a former mercenary who is trying to have his own food truck and gets reeled in a sweet-ass deal to retrieve 200 million dollars.
His relationship with his daughter is strained and with this new job he gets a chance to set things right, probably rejuvenate his relationship with her.
The father-daughter relationship, even though reeks of honesty and somewhere reflects some of Zack’s own experience, felt quite deliberate. As if something was being intentionally stuffed down your throat. The performances given by Dave felt untethered by emotions as if he was reading lines straight from a screenplay. I mean you are secretly wishing he doesn’t screw up since this is a big lead role and all, but you know that what you are seeing isn’t his best, but also sad that he was trying really hard.
Anyhow, he has a long way to go, has a great future now, just like The Rock and John Cena in Hollywood, and the more he practices, the better he gets.
Chambers – The Badass Zombie Killer
We can’t talk about Army of the Dead without mentioning Chambers played by Samantha Win. She walks in like a very unimportant character at first but surprises you beyond the limit, that too in a fraction of seconds. For a girl, who hadn’t killed any zombies before, she does surprisingly well.
You don’t see that coming, and you begin to root for her to make it despite the cliched subplot of every zombie movie ever – an asshole screwing a character for not being nice to him. Sadly Army of the Dead is predictable, and she doesn’t make it. But in those fraction of seconds, you realize how brilliantly Zack Snyder portrays his woman. Strong and powerful! You can’t admire him enough for that. Pick up any of his previous movies right from 300, Sucker Punch, or even his short film Snow Steam Iron, and you’d witness the lens he sees his women from.
Chambers was supposed to be one of those side characters, the dispensable ones, but Zack’s badass depiction of her as one of the most rad zombie killers also ends up becoming one of the most memorable ones.
Army of the Dead Reeks of Gore
Army of the Dead is drenched in gore. You see it every now and then. It is quite comprehensible, if you are watching zombies on the loose, then you need to have an appetite for gore too. Since you are already signed in to watch disgusting things happen.
Gore blows out of proportion in that rare zombie tiger mauling scene that rips one of the bad guys (Martin) apart. Zack built this character to be an unlikable one from the very beginning just so he could show him receive poetic justice. You would be torn in a secret desire to see him get punished the worst death possible, and the fact what you are watching is frigging disgusting.
What is delivered is another one of those memorable scenes that you would often talk about in days to come, because that stands right after The Revenant‘s crazy bear performance.
Other Hits and Misses
While you are watching Army of the Dead, you can’t help but on so many levels realize that this movie could have been actually made a lot better. Zack is no Denis Villeneuve but he could have at least punched sanity in place. So many occasions read stupid that you can’t unsee those flaws.
Army of the Dead also seems rushed. When you see the chopper scene toward the end you realize how weird its VFX ended up becoming, as if they were trying to get it over with. Also very predictable, even with the final twist, you witness it happening from far away.
Movies like this make you doubt Zack’s capabilities as a director. But we have seen him deliver in the past with movies like 300, Watchmen, BvS, and Justice League where he was very serious about the stuff he portrayed with all the poetry and the allegories.
It triggers some questions inadvertently – has he not learned from his mistakes? Can he not turn things around? Maybe in his next big project, we might get some answers.
The Final Verdict
Now that I try to think of it do I remember stuff, meaning does the movie create memorable things? Hell, yes! I can’t shake off that crazy zombie mauling tiger and the Alpha Queen, despite how little her purpose was in the movie, she definitely gives you the chills.
The backdrop was great! You get great vibes as if you are watching something very exciting. I distinctly remember my heart racing fast, wondering what would happen next or how would a character get out of a situation, and things like that.
But is it a great movie? Not at all. It has plenty of flaws, plenty of daft things to turn you off. But you get entertained, and you remember it as a cool zombie movie. I think those are reasons enough to watch this movie.
Army of the Dead movie ends up with a sequel hint which was easy to foresee too. With that cliffhanger, I believe it is up for grabs now. I doubt if Zack would want to direct the next one but if it’s a commercial success then it’s not hard to see that happening soon.
Check out the trailer of Army of the Dead here:
Army of the Dead
Pros
- Cool Zombie Movie
- Some Memorable Stuff
Cons
- Some bad acting
- Bad drama
- Too many flaws
- A lot of stupid acts
