ARMY OF THE DEAD (2021): RISE OF THE MUTANT-ZOMBIE. MOVIE REVIEW

A new classic? Not so fast.

The table was served for zombie fans. Zack Snyder had his name in style after the success of Snyder’s Justice League. In addition, his first job as a director in a feature film was precisely in the zombie genre with the very successful Dawn of the Dead (2004). The experience gained in the director’s chair thru the years and his growth as a creator predicted that Army of the Dead would be a bombshell. Another new classic of the genre. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Zombie fans had to settle for one insipid entry dish.

Good start.

A military convoy suffers an accident that frees a zombie-mutant near  Las Vegas. In a short time, the whole town suffers a zombie infestation, immediately contained by the military, surrounding the city. Later, Scott Ward, one of the survivors who managed to escape, is contacted by Mr. Tanaka. Tanaka offers Ward, a mercenary, to go and recover 200 million dollars from a security vault at one of Tanaka’s casinos in Las Vegas. But adding to the problem that the zombies represent, the US government has decided to drop a small atomic bomb on the city to eradicate the zombie plague. Time is short, so Ward must quickly assemble a suicide team to extract the money.

Scareless mutant zombies.

Part heist, part action, and part horror, the big problem with Army of the Dead is that in the end, it is neither one nor the other. There is not enough tension to be a heist flick. Although there are good action scenes, they are very few. And well, when it comes to zombies, there aren’t enough horror elements. The zombies depicted here are fast mutants with a certain level of intelligence, more adept at throwing and dodging blows than going for the bite. This situation robs the horde of their visceral and most terrifying nature.

The terror is inherent in their large numbers with one common goal: to devour human flesh. This element makes a zombie horde a fearsome menace and an almost unstoppable force that devastates everything in its path. Snyder’s zombies look more like mutants from one of the Resident Evil flicks than those from the George A Romero films. It is commendable to try to push forward the genre, but this time it didn’t work.

Too long.

Unnecessarily lenghty, almost two and a half hours long. Our group of suicide bombers finally arrive in Las Vegas around the 50th minute, without really much had happened up to that point. Yes, the movie is not tedious, and it feels more like a pleasant ride on a carousel where you watch things happen and unfold without conflict. But this is an action movie. Instead of a carousel, we should feel that we are riding the wildest roller coaster. It doesn’t help that most of the characters are nondescript or just plain unpleasant, even though the script tries to give them a defined and hip personality.

Some highlights.

A highlight is the excellent set design work. All the scenarios where the actors interact are convincing, built with detail. The makeup of the zombies-mutants is also noteworthy. But the movie tries to cover too much. They even inserted an aspect of a possible time loop, perhaps preparing for the Netflix series already announced based on the film. Good but few action scenes. Also, there was plenty of continuity and geographic location errors (that horse of Zeus, the zombie leader, is faster than a helicopter). Anyway, Army of the Dead is not tiresome, but it is far from being a good film.

Delirium Score