With every new Zombie movie that comes out, comes an inevitable comparison to the classics from the great George A. Romero. That being said, most “modern” zombie movies do their own thing, each with a twist on what the creatures are capable of. Army of the dead is no different, with zombies that have some semblance of intelligence and organisation, ruled over by a “zombie king” of sorts. It’s clear that the movie has been heavily influenced by “fast zombie” films like “World War Z” or “28 Days Later”. The premise is also quite interesting, taking place in modern-day Las Vegas, and introduced to us in an excellent opening sequence.
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi
The movie opens with a military transport convoy transporting an undefined payload. En route to their destination, they collide with a pair of newlyweds, ultimately damaging and opening the large container. It is made very clear, very quickly that this container carries a deadly passenger that they aren’t equipped to stop. A great action sequence later, everyone is dead with the beast now looking down on the city of Las Vegas.
Over a cover of “Viva Las Vegas,” the destruction of the city is laid out for you leading up to the rescue of civilians by our movie leads Ward (Dave Bautista), Cruz (Ana de la Reguera), and Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick) as well as the eventual blockade of the entire city. The entire sequence does an exceptional job of setting up the movie.
It doesn’t take long for Ward to be recruited by a wealthy businessman named Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) for a job to retrieve $200 million in a vault under Las Vegas, of which he and his team will be allowed to keep $50 million. This is easier said than done as the city is now ruled by the aforementioned “zombie king” while at the same time, the government has decided to nuke the city to the ground within the next couple of days. So, to take up the job Ward reunites with Cruz and Vanderohe and then puts together his team comprising of a helicopter pilot (Tig Notaro), an expert safecracker (Matthias Schweighöfer), a zombie hunter and online personality (Raúl Castillo), and one of Tanaka’s men (Garret Dillahunt) to oversee the operation. The team is eventually joined by the Coyote (Nora Arnezeder), a security officer (Theo Rossi), and Ward’s daughter Kate (Ella Purnell).
As fast-paced as the intro was, the movie as a however is a tad bit slower to get going. It’s not painfully so but could have used a little bit more on the cutting room floor to get to the action quicker. This is especially noticeable considering that none of this time is used smartly to flush out the lead characters. Each feels like a stereotype with barely any depth; and even the charismatic performance of the cast, Dave Bautista included, cannot overcome this shortfall. However, once the action does pick up, most are forgotten. As is expected of a director like Zack Snyder, if there is one thing he will get right, it’s these action sequences. Every sequence in the movie is very well choreographed, tightly paced, and visually spectacular. There are also some very clever sequences spaced throughout the movie that elevates it above average, a notable one being the safe trap sequence as well as one notable and charismatic zombie tiger.
As a whole, the movie is pretty much par for the course, and it is exactly what you would expect for a movie like this. An all-time classic, this isn’t. It is however a thoroughly enjoyable popcorn flick, well work a watch; so long as you keep your expectations in check.