Army of the Dead
NETFLIXWhen the dead have walked the Earth for so long, crossed wires are inevitable. Army of the Dead, the latest feature and second zombie-oriented piece from Zack Snyder, feels like a strong showcase of the flailing zombie sub-genre. It is hard to convey the surprise of an outbreak when the same few notes are attached to each outcome. Horror, terror, and a need to survive, rinse and repeat. Snyder himself has picked those apart before with his 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. Pairing this with the tropes of the ensemble cast collected here in the Army of the Dead and the hallmarks of Snyder’s direction, there is a certain potential to be had.
Tearing through the waste and gluttony of the Las Vegas lifestyle, Snyder fires up a gorefest worthy of such a theme. Unfortunately, the best riffs on these moments are found in the opening credits montage. Said opening montage shows the ‘then’ and ‘now’ of these characters. Average family men and women coming together to do their part in taking the fight back to the zombie-infested streets. Such a story is told through a lengthy rendition of the classic Viva Las Vegas track. It works, but it is a shame that these moments are meant to have emotional heft yet are downplayed by a lack of audible focus. Introducing the ensemble is a simple affair; it is what Snyder does with the stand-out performances from Tig Notario and Dave Bautista that matter most. He can inflict moments of touching, impressionable sentiment within them, and it is nice to see this succeed from time to time.
Still, these emotive moments would be better handled had Snyder not cast his net so wide. Seedy antagonists litter the grounds, giving the protagonists some source or reason for anger and frustration. Spilling these issues into a theme-heavy Vegas, and is a recipe for bloody disaster. Primitive imagery and moments that present parallels with Greek Gods and political disasters. His moments of emotional conflict, especially those scenes with Dave Bautista, make little to no sense. They are the usual slow-motion shots that Snyder loves to rely on, and they have little effect here. Many of the shots and ideas behind them, the tracking cameras slowly zooming in on two characters sharing a cold one, or the opening montage, feel like they are cut and polished for trailer coverage. Everything within Army of the Dead feels as though it were made for marketing material, rather than for character development. We do not get to know these characters, because there is no need to know them beyond burly beasts busting heads and blowing up the undead.
Burly, brutal and a bit boring at times, Army of the Dead never finds comfortable pacing. Army of the Dull, more like. Gratuitous violence and big explosions do much to cover the real lack of story, and for once, Snyder finds a dark and gritty story worthy of his style. Plenty of commentaries are pocketed and unsure of themselves, but its inclusion shows exceptional growth and a level of experience that draws on Snyder’s previous work within the zombie genre. It is far from perfect, and Army of the Dead’s bulky running time hides little surprise or excitement. Nevertheless, when Snyder manages to bring his titular army in front of the camera, the scope and post-modern overhaul of the zombie genre feels right at home and on the right tracks. A sad shame that the videogame Dead Rising 2 did the “zombies in Vegas” shtick over ten years ago.