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| Review: Army Of The Dead |
Review: Army Of The Dead. Before his name was (more) popular as a mainstay director of DC movies and Warner Bros. Pictures for directing superhero movies such as Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), to Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021).
In addition to being involved in all movies in the DC Extended Universe storytelling universe, Zack Snyder began his feature-length film-directing career by directing the action horror movie Dawn of the Dead (2004) which recounts the chaos resulting from invasions and undead attacks live for humans.
A remake of the legendary movie of the same name directed by George A. Romero released in 1978, Snyder's Dawn of the Dead is often hailed as one of Hollywood's best undead horror movies ever produced by world film critics, as well as a movie. The best Snyder has directed to date.
Review: Army Of The Dead Movie 2021
The latest movie directed by Snyder, Army of the Dead is also an action horror movie that puts the story of chaos caused by the attack of the undead as the main theme of the story.
However, unlike Dawn of the Dead, the movie, which was written by Snyder with Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, 2019) and Joby Harold (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, 2017) also offers a number of plots. Another story that stands out and makes it appear quite different from other movies that involve undead characters in the storyline.
Admittedly, those who are familiar with the series of movies that have been directed by Snyder before will obviously easily recognize the various image features or storylines that Snyder returns in Army of the Dead.
Luckily, elements such as the use of slow motion scenes, the use of high contrast, to the technique of enlarging objects in a number of movie scenes can be utilized to make the intensity of the story more interesting.
Synopsis
Army of the Dead opens with the story of the destruction of the city of Las Vegas, United States after the undead attack.
These conditions make the government quarantine the entire city so that no one can enter or leave without permission from the authorities and plans to destroy Las Vegas with a nuclear attack in the near future.
Not wanting the money stored in his casino to disappear, Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) hires a former mercenary named Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) to sneak into the city of Las Vegas, break into the casino vaults, and bring home more than the US' worth of cash. $200 million.
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| Review: Army Of The Dead |
Scott Ward, of course, is not alone. He then recruits his old colleagues, Maria Cruz (Ana de la Reguera), Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), and Marianne Peters (Tig Notaro), as well as new people who are already known for their reliability such as Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), Mikey Guzman (Raúl Castillo), and his partner Chambers (Samantha Win).
Accompanied by bodyguard Bly Tanaka who is tasked with providing access to various rooms in the casino, Martin (Garret Dillahunt), Scott Ward begins a race against time – and the undead who can attack at any time – to complete his mission.
Review
Like the movies he directed before, Snyder also has a new vision of the storyline that he wants to convey.
Instead of just presenting a group of undead whose job it is to attack and/or kill humans, Snyder created a group of undead characters that differed and possessed a level of intellectual and emotional intelligence from most other undead characters.
Of course, the presence of undead figures who have more abilities can add additional tension to the storyline that must be passed by human characters.
Army of the Dead is also not only presented as a story about how humans survive in the midst of the threat of death that lurks around them.
The film's main plot focuses on the attempted theft of money by Scott Ward's character and his partners at Bly Tanaka's character's casino. A heist movie set in a zombie movie – an interesting mix that Snyder manages to do quite well.
At the same time, it's hard not to feel that Snyder is, once again, repeating the same mistake from his previous movies: a great idea that is interesting but then executed with a very limited (read: shallow) story building.
An undead character with intellectual and emotional intelligence was indeed a fresh idea. But Snyder's inability to dig up enough background stories about the origins of this intelligence left the undead feeling half-baked in their every move.
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Snyder's attempt to give an emotional touch to the Army of the Dead storyline by presenting the child of Scott Ward's character, Kate Ward (Ella Purnell), also failed when Kate Ward's own character was more often depicted with more disturbing characterizations.
Another one of Snyder's classic mistakes, presenting storytelling with a longer duration than it should still appear in this movie.
For a 148-minute movie, Army of the Dead doesn't have enough story ammunition – with a number of plots that fail to be better managed and explored – to keep audiences engaged with the narrative.
Conclusion
Despite a number of flaws, it's hard not to be entertained by Snyder's presentation. Presenting the movies storyline in a fast-paced storytelling rhythm, Snyder is able to manage moments of action and horror that feel tense well.
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| Review: Army Of The Dead |
The film's acting department doesn't disappoint either. Although his acting never felt special, Bautista's charisma was able to make the Scott Ward character he played attracted the attention of the audience as a whole.
The appearance of Schweighöfer, Win, and Nora Arnezeder who played Lily also provided an unforgettable special moment for Army of the Dead.
Schweighöfer's appearance, in particular, clearly manages to steal attention whenever the character he plays is involved in the storyline.
Still can't match the quality of Dawn of the Dead but Army of the Dead is definitely enough to satisfy Snyder fans – and, perhaps, some fans of movies about the undead.
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