Viva Las Vegas!
Introduction
If there is one man who seems to be benefiting from the pandemic, it is Zack Snyder. With a four-hour-long endurance test of a director’s cut that is Justice League receiving praise from fans and critics alike, Zack decided to make a U-turn and focus on a new zombie flick, Army of the Dead.
Admittingly I am a sucker for content containing the undead. There is something that fascinates yet terrifies me about those shuffling man-eating husks. While I am not exactly a fan of Zack Snyder’s work, the prospect of watching a zombie movie directed by a man known for his obsessive cinematography felt enticing, to say the least.
Setting and Plot
Army of Dead revolves around the premise of a zombie outbreak occurring in the city of vice itself, Las Vegas. Here our protagonists, a group of mercenaries led by Scott Ward(portrayed by David Bautista), are hired by Bly Tanaka(portrayed by Hiroyuki Sanada) to steal 2 million dollars from his casino in the living necropolis before the United States government nukes the entire city in the coming days.
Army of the Dead starts with a strong opening, pressing heavily on the more comedic elements of having a zombie outbreak situated in Las Vegas, as the undead rip apart every single cliche on the strip, with Viva Las Vegas playing the background. Without Bautista and company there to fight the walking corpses, one would think they are watching an extended cut of 2009’s Zombieland.
The film thematically can be described as Resident Evil meets the Oceans franchise, as Scott has to put together a team to take on the job. Almost every person selected has a reason for being there, each providing a pivotal role for the mission, along with being a colourful cast of badass characters.
There were a couple of odd choices among the squad, including Matthias Schweighöfer’s adorable yet nervous safecracker, who should have been unnecessary for the mission since Tanaka should have provided the crew with a password for his safe. However, the inclusion of Deiter Ludwig added some more spice to the roster, as he was one of the few non-combatants within the unit but made it up with his charming personality and an amusing safe-cracking scene.
While the concept sounds fantastic on paper, there is still some scepticism after Yeon Sang-ho’s failed attempt to do something similar with Peninsula last year. Peninsula was a dull mess of a film that was humorously unwatchable. Unlike Peninsula, Snyder uses his effects well, providing several entertaining action sequences for the characters to cut loose.
The zombies in this film also felt recognisable, if not fresh, in their own rotten way, as there are so many different types of them. There are the classical shamblers that dominate the movie’s opening sequence, but they quickly give way to the smarter and fiercer alphas. The alphas are the apex predators among the undead, but they never feel like zombies, more like orcs with their hierarchy of command. There are even some cyborg oddballs among them, along with a zombified tiger that guards their territory.
After watching this film and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it has come to my attention that Zack Snyder has no sense of space and time as characters seemed to have unlocked the ability to quick travel, teleporting across the city with little to no effort. There is a scene towards the end of the film where the zombie leader manages to climb down a skyscraper, get on his horse and somehow successfully outpace a helicopter crossing the city.
Characters and Performances
The best way to describe the cast of Army of the Dead is by calling them a lovable bunch of idiots. Every character feels like a caricature of their stereotype but cranked up to a hundred, making their zaniness help them stand out among the crowd. Even with their shared screen time, the cast feels memorable despite their brief individual screen time.
Then there is Ella Purnell, who plays the character of Kate Ward, Scott Ward’s obnoxious daughter whose personality can be summed as Daddy issues with a lack of self-preservation. She decides to go along with her father and his crew to find a missing mother inside the city infested with super zombies. Of course, she ditches the party of well-trained mercenaries and decides to sneak past the rotting freaks with nothing more than her ungodly plot armour. She is one of those characters who would have benefitted the film by being tied and gagged to a cactus somewhere far from the city.
Most of these actors play to their strengths, as with the case of Tig Notaro, who wasn’t even on set while this movie was being filmed, replacing Chris D’elia. Yet, she manages to synch with the rest of the cast thanks to her sharp wit. That is both a testament to the editing and to her acting prowess. Dave Bautista does well as the film’s lead, adding a level of intimidation with his presence alone but simultaneously acting like a Dad begrudgingly taking his daughter to work.
Action and Presentation
After watching a fair range of Snyder’s movie catalogue, it is refreshing to see a film where he actually embraces the full range of the colour gamut. It is also strange that a zombie movie is getting this treatment, compared to the more fantastical superhero genre of the DC universe. This film is Snyder unleashed, where the action and the cinematography holds true throughout.
The slow-motion action sequences are surprisingly less noticeable than they are in Justice League. However, he does double down on the blur effects, although in some way, they blend in well with Nevada’s desert climate.
Conclusion
At its core Army of the Dead is a teenage boy’s wet dream with super zombies, flashy guns and buzzsaws, along with magnificent zombie stripper breasts flashing around during the film’s opening sequence. This film is just Zack Snyder having a blast, creating something he loves.
This film is not trying to break any new ground in the zombie genre or tell a tale about society using the undead as a dark reflection of ourselves. Zack Snyder’s Army of Dead at times feels like an upbeat video game, similar to Dead Rising or Left 4 Dead, where the hero must power their way through a city swarming with the creatures to get to their goal. It is truly one of those films where you can switch off your brain and watch an undead Elvis impersonator get carpet-bombed.
