What I’m watching: a big-budget hybrid between a zombie film and ‘Ocean’s 11’Date: 5/28/2021 On Neftlix: “Army of the Dead”
Several years ago at the height of popularity of zombie films, it seemed that every other horror film sent to me for review was a zombie movie. There were Nazi zombies, Communist zombies, fast zombies, slow zombies and romantic zombies.
Essentially all of these films operated on the same premise established by director George Romero and writer John Russo for their 1969 production of “Night of the Living Dead.”
Director Zack Snyder is the latest filmmaker who should be sending their estates a large check.
Snyder is probably the most recognized and talked about director in pop culture right now after the lead-up and release of his four-hour “Justice League of America” film. It’s an interesting choice to follow-up that movie with a two-hour-plus zombie epic.
He is no stranger to the genre having made in 2004 a remake of Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead.”
With millions of dollars, Snyder has crafted a film that is pretty familiar and at the same time it is rather ridiculous. Like the Romero films he follows the same basic rules: the government is behind the creation of zombies; they crave flesh and brains; to kill them you have to shoot them in the head; the good guys will probably die; there will be a bleak ending.
With this film Snyder adds one more element. There are your basic shambling zombies and there are a group of thinking zombies, led by the government experiment who is smart enough to figure out how to make a bullet-proof helmet so he can’t be killed as easily.
Dave Bautista plays Scott who leads the cast as the guy first approached by a casino owner to lead a crew into Las Vegas to recover millions of dollars in his vault. That’s right, Vegas, baby! This is the heist part of the story.
The zombie apocalypse starts in Sin City, which has been sealed off by the government as it decides how to manage the crisis. The government’s solution is to drop a nuke to turn all zombie to dust and Scott’s crew has to get in and out with the money before the rocket’s red glare.
The problems with this film is not with the cast. It’s not with the overall concept. It’s with a parade of plot holes that caused me to laugh out loud.
For instance, the crew needs a safecracker to get into the vault. Do you mean the owner of the casino does not have the combination? Really?
Outside of the Vegas wall is a refugee camp for people who used to live in Vegas. What? Why are they still there?
There are now zombie animals. If animals can become zombies, we are so dead. What about birds, then? Birds are not stopped by a wall.
The more intelligent zombies have some sort of society, but what is their deal? Why are they better? How did they come about?
The crew enters through a doorway cut into the wall. They don’t shut the door to secure it. So what would happen if the smart zombies find it? Chomp, chomp!
Why is it we always have to have at least one stupid person who doesn’t understand the concept of flesh-eating monsters?
Why must a heist film with zombies and an impending nuclear attack move so slowly? Snyder apparently doesn’t know much about building suspense and pacing. He should watch 1930s dramas from Warners Bros. to see directors who knew how to make a film move.
If you want gore, don’t worry Snyder understands your needs – this is a “hard” R. If you want a parade of exploding zombies, he has you covered. If you need to see topless show girls biting the necks of gamblers, you’re set. Heck, there is even a zombie Liberace impersonator!
If you’re a zombie fan, I imagine you will enjoy this mindless romp through the land of the dead. In many ways this film reminded me of the silly horror films that were part of the drive-in experience when I was growing up. The only difference is the cost: $90 million.
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