You could argue that Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead way back in 2004 was one of the first projects to spark the renewed craze in the undead. Now 17 years and what feels like that many DC projects later Snyder returns to the genre that put him on the map with Army of the Dead, an original story of his own creation that sends a muscled up team of mercenaries into a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas swarming with zombies to pull off the ultimate heist. It may not hit the same terrifying highs of Dawn, but Snyder should be commended for his willingness to experiment within the zombie genre, bombarding the audience with a deep and (mostly) interesting lore that is ultimately overshadowed by the fairly rudimentary story within. The man may need to learn that less is more when it comes to his new favourite technique, but Army is ultimately an engaging and, above all, fun addition to the zombie canon.
If you thought an abandoned mall was a big playground for zombie shenanigans then prepare to be impressed, as Snyder transforms the adult equivalent of Disneyland into the goriest place on Earth, complete with Sigfried and Roy’s zombified pet tiger. The opening few scenes paint a gruesome and surprisingly humour-infused picture of the beginning of this particular zombie uprising, with flesh-eating Elvis impersonators and showgirls ravaging the town and devouring the population. Only once the city has been fenced off by the Government do we find ourselves face to face with Scott Ward (Dave Bautista), a former soldier tasked with the initial evacuation of Vegas who is now whiling away the hours flipping burgers and reflecting on his brutal past. When wealthy CEO Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) walks into his diner and offers him the chance to make 200 million dollars, Scott’s ears perk up and he begins to assemble a crack team to break into the vault deep within the Strip. Joining him are fellow veterans Maria (Ana de la Reguera) and Vanderhoe (Omari Hardwick), cowardly safe cracker Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), helicopter pilot Peters (Tig Notaro), YouTube zombie hunter Guzman (Raúl Castillo), Tanaka’s right hand man Martin (Garret Dillahunt) who may or may not have his own nefarious motives and Scott’s daughter Kate (Ella Purnell), who forces herself onto the team in order to rescue a friend from the zombified wasteland.
Once the team enters that wasteland is when Snyder’s true vision for the world takes shape. Alongside the traditional slow-moving “Shamblers” and more modern fast-moving, frenetic zombie are the Alpha’s, high-functioning undead generals within the literal army of the dead. Led by patient zero Zeus (Richard Cetrone), the zombies maintain an almost medieval hierarchy, serving their king and his queen as they defend their territory from intruders. When they enter, Scott’s team must leave a sacrifice for the undead as a sign of respect and this is just one of the fascinating deviations from the zombie norm that Snyder takes. Zeus is a legitimately intelligent and fierce adversary, strategically manoeuvring his subjects to intercept Scott’s team and leave no survivors. It isn’t exactly Game of Thrones in terms of the interactions within this hierarchy of zombies but it is different enough to be a whole lot of fun. Also did I mention the zombie tiger? Because yeah, there’s a zombie tiger and it’s just as awesome as you would think it is.
What isn’t as awesome unfortunately is the interaction between the humans. With the exception of the genuinely touching bond formed between the odd-couple of fierce soldier Vanderhoe and timid Dieter, no single character really gets much of an arc to fulfil. Bautista is excellent as Scott, and is the obvious choice to be leading these sorts of action-heavy films into the future, but he also packs a lot of emotion into his performance. Scott’s past is harrowing and has clearly left him with some serious trauma that has damaged the relationship with his daughter. When he senses this might be his only chance to reconnect with Kate, Scott tries his best, which boils down to offering her his share of the money and constantly quipping about opening up various sorts of food trucks. Great performance but not so great dialogue. This holds true for all of the supporting characters, who either have their own mini, incredibly predictable arc – like the obviously insidious Martin – or are assigned an intriguing character trait that defines them instead of their actions – like the immediately interesting Guzman, who seems to offer a hilarious commentary on modern gaming and streaming culture but never really does anything.
It’s worth mentioning Tig Notaro’s inclusion in the film as well, who replaced Chris D’Elia at the last minute after unsettling (to say the least) revelations emerged about the comedian’s private life. Having been superimposed into the film through some CG trickery, her scenes feel strangely disconnected from not only the rest of the cast but the movie in general, with a distractingly obvious change in background and the general feel of the film whenever we cut to Peters. Her performance isn’t bad, just not as noteworthy as the behind-the-scenes of her appearance. Fortunately the CGI is a great deal better in the realisation of Snyder’s vision of Las Vegas. The dilapidated ruins of Sin City are a visual spectacle, with all the recognisable landmarks in various stages of decay alongside their debaucherous inhabitants. There is a great deal of visual storytelling on display in the design of the city, with the walls keeping the undead in hastily constructed from shipping containers, wordlessly telling a narrative of the panicked response to the outbreak without the need for annoyingly overdone exposition.
In recent releases Snyder has a habit of picking a filmic technique that he is particularly enamoured with and plastering it all over his latest film. In Zack Snyder’s Justice League it was the comically overdone use of slow motion (which does return here, thankfully in smaller doses) but in Army of the Dead it seems as if the veteran director has just discovered focus. Perhaps it was a particular lens he took a shining to but almost every shot in the film messes around with focus to a degree, blurring in and out to maddening results. Entire scenes are often played out with a background blurred to such a ridiculous degree that it actually draws attention away from what is in focus. It doesn’t help a particularly emotional scene if the viewer is trying to discern if the background is a choice or if their TV is broken, in fact it detracts a great deal. He even goes the opposite, even more frustrating route of shooting a scene with the action out of focus, begging the question: why the hell am I watching a window frame in stunning 4K resolution whilst I can barely figure out if the zombie behind it is killing Dave Bautista or on a hot streak in a game of craps in Caesar’s?
After what seems like a terrible journey to releasing his much improved version of Justice League Zack Snyder has been turned loose on an original story with no interference from the studio behind him and it feels good to see him shooting for the moon. Not everything is a slam dunk in Army of the Dead, with some weak character interaction and strange editing choices but Dave Bautista’s casually cool and kick-ass presence and the exploration of a hierarchical zombie society and all the weirdness that brings is well worth your time. If Snyder chooses to keep playing in this sandbox, which it looks like he will judging from his multi-year deal with Netflix, then I’m excited to see how much further he can expand upon this universe’s lore and that of the zombie genre as a whole, as well as whatever animal he chooses to zombify next. Zombie crocodile please.
Army of the Dead stars Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Omari Hardwick, Matthias Schweighöfer, Theo Rossi, Nora Arnezeder, Tig Notaro, Garret Dillahunt, Raúl Castillo & Hiroyuki Sanada – Streaming on Netflix now.