A Review of Army of the Dead by Nick Olszyk
Distribution Service: Netflix
MPAA Rating, R
CNS Rating, NR
Reel Rating, Two Reels
The
zombie motif is one of the most overused devices in recent cinema. Despite the
lockdowns, 2020 had no less than seven mainstream
zombie films, and 2021 isn’t shaping up to be any different. Director Zack Snyder
himself played a large role in the mid-2000s revitalization of the genre with Dawn of the Dead. Now, he is back with Army
of the Dead, a mashup of both the
zombie and heist genres. As a late-night Saturday popcorn flick, it is
reasonably entertaining but fails to move beyond into anything profound. Given the
dearth of undead competition, however, it is unlikely to see the light of day after
a few months.
The film begins with a
military convoy escorting a mysterious “package” from Area 51 when it collides
with a convertible carrying a newly married couple just leaving Vegas. A huge,
hulking zombie escapes, whose strength, demeanor, and physiology is more reminiscent
of Tolkein’s Uruk-hai than the pitiful walkers of Night of the Living Dead. He
sets his sights on Sin City and within weeks the whole town is overrun. Scott
Ward (Dave Bautista) wins the medal of honor by rescuing dozens of civilians
before the city is barricaded, although he loses his wife in the process. The President
makes the decision to nuke the whole town. Due to his experience, Scott is approached
by a casino owner to make a risky heist and remove $200 million from his vault
the day before the strike.
Of course, Scott can’t
just lone gunman the operation. The genre requires a motley crew of diverse
personalities. There’s Marianne (Tig Natoro), the quick-witted helicopter
pilot, Lily (Nora Arnezeder), the practical coyote who knows the terrain, and
Ludwig (Matthias Schweighöfer) the nerdy safecracker who couldn’t kill a zombie
if his life depended on it, which it certainly does, as well as a half dozen disposable
military types. At first, things go relatively smoothly; then a hidden agenda
in unearth which upends the whole operation. Who will die? Who will live? Who
will get rich? These questions are not nearly as important as who gets the best
head shot or makes the coolest explosion.
To be considered a
success, Army of the Dead only needed to do one thing: be entertaining,
a bar it clears with relative ease. It is helped a great deal by the Vegas
ambience. There are bullets ricocheting off
poker chips, great Elvis music, classic landmarks going up in smoke, and even a
zombie tiger. Usually, such movies also have a dystopian overtone where the
fate of humanity hangs in the balance. Here, the undead are essentially
contained with their demise sealed. It is a refreshing change of pace that
lowers the stakes. The audience wants Scott to get his well-deserved reward,
but if he fails, the rest of us will be fine.
These days, any zombie
movie must bring some new element that separates itself from the pack. George
Romero established the “basic zombie” in 1968 as a lumbering idiot, and
directors since have kept upping the ante. Here, the zombies have created their
own hive-like civilization. “We see this as a wasteland,” Lily tells Scott, “They
see it as their kingdom.” The original “Alpha” zombie (Richard Cetrone) still
exists and leads the horde with his Queen (Athena Perample), who has recently conceived
a child. Zack Synder elaborated on the philosophical implications of this phenomenon
in a recent interview with IndieWire:
“I believe that some zombie love happened,
some sweet zombie lovemaking. It was probably pretty aggressive. My theory is
that the zombies in our movie are working toward not needing a human host to
procreate their species. That’s the ultimate evolution. They’re like a better
us. They’re no longer destroying their environment. They’re not fighting with
each other. They’re less bad for everybody. “
This represents an annoying misanthropic trend in recent dystopian literature;
the world would be better off without humans, and we deserve this treatment.
This “sympathy for the devil” goes back to Day of the Dead in 1985
when the film ended with a zombie learning how to use a gun and shooting the
human antagonist. Yet the audience is still expected to cheer when Scott and
his allies blow the brains their foe. It can’t go both ways. Snyder builds the
Alpha up as a hero, so when he inevitably perishes, the audience is left both
elated and saddened. It’s better to stick with the traditional understanding of
Christian spiritual warfare. Whether its zombies, foot soldiers, goblins, or
stormtroopers – the faceless enemy minion is, in fantasy literature, not a real
person but a representation of evil that must be gleefully destroyed.
While Army of the Dead is not a large offender, its insertion of leftist tendencies – many of
which I just do not have time to name – dampens an otherwise silly and fun film.
Humanity needs corners of experience where it can escape from its problems and
enjoy imaginative nonsense. Zombie films provide such a venue. It is better to
stick with a slow, obviously non-human menace easily crushed than a zombie with
crippling depression and feelings of impotence. There are plenty of places for
that – Vegas probably isn’t one of them.
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