Army of the Dead Review
Zombie films have been done time and time again. The sub-genre has sometimes felt over-saturated and repetitive, but every now and again a zombie film pops up that’s different to the others before it. Zack Snyder is the creator of this new addition, which can be watched on Netflix.
What makes this zombie film different? For starters, the zombies haven’t taken over the world, they’ve been contained to Las Vegas. There are also two types of zombies; the slow and mindless ones we’ve become accustomed to seeing, and faster, stronger, more organised ones called ‘Alphas’ who are the powerful leaders. It certainly adds a more terrifying aspect to the monsters many of us have become a little bored of.
With the zombies contained to Las Vegas, America has a plan to drop an atomic bomb on the area in the hope of getting rid of all zombies and stopping any risk of them infecting the rest of the world. This part of the story feels a little too close-to-home at times after living through the Covid-19 pandemic for the last year. We see temperature guns being used at a refugee camp and debates over quarantining on the news, with the headline ‘Quarantine: Truth or Scare’.
For that reason, comic relief is extremely important in keeping this action movie from drifting into a more dark and depressing place. Thankfully, the majority of the jokes land and are used in the right way, at the right times, especially with characters Ludwig Dieter — played by Matthias Schweighöfer — and Marianne Peters — played by Tig Notaro.
The plot begins when former mercenary, Scott Ward — played by Dave Bautista — is approached by casino owner, Bly Tanaka — played by Hiroyuki Sanada — about a job to break into his casino vault to recover $200 million before the bomb is dropped. He rounds up a group of zombie killers, a helicopter pilot and a safecracker. A man named Martin also joins the group to help them access the casino, although it becomes clear he has ulterior motives for being there.
Although the zombie part of the film is impressive and creative, Zack Snyder manages to make the same mistakes he makes in all of his films (although calling them mistakes is probably too forgiving). Misogyny leaks through from the very start of the film, when we see a slow-mo shot of topless zombie women running. You could’ve been fooled into thinking the movie was Baywatch with zombies. This never becomes relevant, it’s obvious that these boobs are for the male gaze and nothing more. We see naked bodies in a cage soon after, and they all seem to be women. In fact, there may not be a single naked man or exposed penis in the whole film. It doesn’t stop there though, as the first member of the team to get killed (aside from a character who was essentially brought along as a sacrifice) is a woman of colour, Chambers — played by Samantha Win.
The misogyny isn’t the only let-down of the movie, as the final twist is incredibly predictable. As you get further into the film, it feels more and more like the same old zombie story we’ve watched over and over again. It starts slow, but ramps up as the squad enter the zombie city, then somehow dips drastically once again in the final quarter.
Army of the Dead isn’t a terrible film, far from it. But it’s not great either. It doesn’t deliver on its promise of an exciting and innovative revival of Zombie movies, and the misogyny yet again adds a tastelessness and crassness to the film that isn’t needed. As far as Zack Snyder films go, it’s exactly what you’d expect. Take from that what you will.
Hannah Parker
