Army Of The Dead

Army Of The Dead (5/10)
Genre: Action/Horror
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2021

You either like or hate a Zack Snyder film, and it's almost apparent there's no middle-ground for his movies, and even though I love his DC films - Man of Steel, BVS, and his cut of the Justice League, as well as 300 and Watchmen, I disliked Army of the Dead. Writer, director, cinematographer, and producer - it's like Netflix gave him a free card to do whatever he wants. Imagine a kid in a candy store and the kid can eat as many candies the kid wants, but in the end, after eating too many candies, the kid pukes in the entire store - Army of the Dead in short. 

To be honest, Army of the Dead left me brain-dead after watching it. At times, I felt like watching a Michael Bay film and not Zack Snyder film. If not for the action and violence, I would have hated it. I get it, it is a zombie film, so no logic, but that doesn't mean you take the audience for granted. Here's an example: a guy survives an effin' nuclear blast, I know you'll say he was inside a vault meant to sustain a nuke attack, but what about the radiation, the moment you're out of the vault, you're dead. 

Trust me, there are way too many plot holes, after a point, I started ignoring them, and all those dramas - father-daughter, estranged lovers, and even emotional zombies - sheer torture. The best part is zombies accepting bribes and cutting deals, bloody corruption has infected the zombies as well. On top, a two-and-a-half-hour of runtime feels unnecessary and could have been cut short by an hour. Every time there's no action, I was screaming to myself - kill some zombies for all those DC haters' sakes before I bore myself to death. 

I know, you may see this as a hate post, but let me very clear, I love Snyder and his films, but sometimes you don't agree with your loved ones. My brother left the room after half an hour, but I carried on hoping it's the Snyder cut, so things will be better, turns out Joss Whedon's curse worked. The entire plot is so loose - a random zombie, in the beginning, leads to more zombies, some tough-ass folks killing those zombies and some getting killed while killing, emotional trauma, tough-ass folks are no more in the zombie-killing business, cut to an Asian guy comes with a mission, a half-hour recruitment video, cut to Zombieland, tough-ass folks (old and new) killing zombies and getting killed - The End. 

Direction is not terrible, but not memorable either. The acting is terrible, and so are the equally miserable dialogues. Cliched characters in the name of the multi-racial cast - Americans, Black Americans, Mexicans, Indians (not the red ones), Asians, and so on. For Bollywood fans, Huma Qureshi's role is even less than some of the zombies. 

The only relief is the action sequences, and I loved those, especially the one involving a zombie tiger, apart from it, I hardly recall anything. The prosthetics and make-up are also the highlights in the film. It's hard to process Army Of The Dead is getting a sequel. Until then, I'll rather watch the Snyder Cut - B&W version. 

To conclude, I reiterate, I love Snyder, and this is just my individual opinion, but Army Of The Dead is disappointing.