Synopsis

The undead have taken over the Vegas strip in Army of the Dead. The movie kicks off with a propulsive montage of human-on-zombie violence, showing how the zombie virus spread throughout Vegas and how survivors and the military fought back and walled off the now-zombie city. Several months later, survivor Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) is contacted by the mysterious Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) to assemble a team to retrieve $200 million from a Vegas vault before the US drops a nuke there; in return, Ward and his team get to keep $50 million. But once Ward assembles his rag-tag group and they enter the city, the group unsurprisingly realizes that they’ve taken on more than they bargained for.

Analysis

This movie highlights Snyder’s superb ability at creating great action sequences. Every zombie encounter feels unique and harrowing, and I never felt that there were any throwaway fights. The camera will often be up close to the action which makes for a more visceral experience. This technique, coupled with a lack of quick shots, also makes the viewer buy into the idea that the people on screen really are fighting off the undead. I enjoyed how dynamic the sequences felt as well. Seeing zombies and humans use their agility and environment to their advantage greatly increased my level of excitement. There’s also a surprisingly high degree of fight choreography involved, with one scene in particular giving off very strong John Wick vibes. There’s something to be said about the excellent practical and sound effects too. Practical effects add some groundedness by having enemies (i.e., zombies) made up of flesh and blood rather than CGI. And whenever a zombie is shot with a bullet, struck by a knife, or dispatched in some other creative fashion, their gory annihilation feels satisfyingly real. Excellent sound effects give some sonic weight to brutal kills too, adding an extra dose of hyperrealistic violence to the movie’s over-the-top tone.

Unfortunately, I think that Snyder misses the mark in setting up a group dynamic. There’s almost no natural chemistry between anyone. This absence can probably be attributed to how each character feels essentially one-note, and how they’re not given a well-rounded personality for the viewer to get attached to. And while there are some interesting pairings of characters, no time is spent learning more about them or even what one person in a pair means to the other. In terms of dialogue, conversations between the team members feel stilted and unnecessarily long. There’s also an excessive amount of insults, quips, and “heroic sacrifice” lines exchanged, which gets old fast. I never got the impression that the team was working as a collective unit either. Even when they’re fighting in the same space, they act individually rather than together. And because the characters never change the way they fight alongside each other, the group fails to develop. While this method may have been a good way to highlight each person’s unique zombie-killing style, it would’ve been more satisfying to see their styles eventually work in tandem.

Awkward pacing in the last two acts deprives the movie of a natural flow as well. Except for one tense action sequence, nothing significant happens in the second act. This wouldn’t be a problem if the act wasn’t the longest out of all three, which really made the movie feel its length. In contrast, too many things happen in the last 30 minutes. [***SPOILER WARNING FOR REST OF PARAGRAPH***] It shouldn’t be too surprising that a film like this would have a few character deaths towards the end. However, how characters die feels rushed and undeserved. There are even characters whose presumed deaths the movie doesn’t even bother to show. And while on the one hand I enjoyed how much action the third act threw at me, on the other I would’ve liked more time to catch my breath and to process everything that was happening.

Conclusion

In summary, it wouldn’t hurt to check out Army of the Dead. If you’re looking for a zombie movie that stands above its peers in terms of action and special effects, you will be more than entertained. However, if you’re hoping that you’ll also get an interesting group dynamic and semi-coherent story, you’ll probably be disappointed. You might have to watch this movie a bit mindlessly (pun shamelessly intended) to enjoy it, but you should have a good time if you do so.

Rating: 3/5