• Latest
  • Trending

ARMY OF THE DEAD Review: Netflix’s Latest Love-It-Or-Hate-It Gamble Asserts What We Already Know

May 23, 2021

OBI-WAN KENOBI Review: Patience, Young Padawans

May 27, 2022

ANDOR: Star Wars Celebration Debuts Official Series Teaser For ‘Rogue One’ Tie-In Series

May 26, 2022
News Briefs: FAST X Adds Another, News On Eckhart’s THE BRICKLAYER And AMBUSH, OUR MAN FROM JERSEY Casts Up, UK Thriller LETTER GIRLS

News Briefs: Netflix’s HORIZON ZERO DAWN; Casting Updates On THE LAST KING OF THE CROSS, FLINT STRONG And TIN SOLDIER

May 27, 2022

TAKE THE NIGHT: Catch The Trailer For The New Crime Thriller Releasing In July!

May 26, 2022

New SPEED RACER Series In The Works At Apple

May 25, 2022

BEAST: See Idris Elba Punch A Big-Ass, Hangry Lion In The Official Trailer

May 25, 2022

Thai Romantic Comedy FAST & FEEL LOVE To Kick Off The 20th Anniversary Of The New York Asian Film Festival Next Month

May 25, 2022

THE WITCH PART TWO: Meet ‘The Other One’ In The Official Trailer

May 25, 2022
GHOSTBOOK Trailer: Ghouls, Goblins And Kids On A Magical Adventure In The New Trailer

GHOSTBOOK Trailer: Ghouls, Goblins And Kids On A Magical Adventure In The New Trailer

May 24, 2022

THE HIDDEN FOX: Don’t Miss The Teaser For Qiao Lei’s Long-Awaited Wuxia Thriller

May 24, 2022

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY Brings Retribution In The Official Trailer For Richard Gray’s New Western

May 24, 2022
THE COCKTAIL PARTY Review: Martial Arts Mayhem At A Mixer Serves Up An Enduring Etiquette Lesson

THE COCKTAIL PARTY Review: Martial Arts Mayhem At A Mixer Serves Up An Enduring Etiquette Lesson

May 26, 2022
Film Combat Syndicate
  • Login
  • Film Combat Syndicate
  • Forums
  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Film Combat Syndicate
  • Forums
  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Film Combat Syndicate
No Result
View All Result
Home Reviews

ARMY OF THE DEAD Review: Netflix’s Latest Love-It-Or-Hate-It Gamble Asserts What We Already Know

Lee B. Golden IIIbyLee B. Golden III
May 23, 2021
inReviews
6
0
132
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Clay Enos/Netflix

I’m not a huge horrorhead like our own Christina Ortega Phillips, though I always prefer a good thriller to bide my time more than anything. For this, you can trust that a zombie movie like Army Of The Dead is something I would’ve avoided as nothing short of what sounded like the title of another direct-to-Walmart action flick were it not for the huge names attached – including one Zack Snyder, best known for rallying a loyal cult following with graphic novel-style flexes such as 300, Watchmen and Sucker Punch, coupled with the kind of signature “messy” flair he applies to his craft.

Going into his latest movie, I’m reluctant to dive too far into an in-depth review, lest I get roped into the Twitter drama over Snyder’s creative decisions; I spent a good few hours back-and-forth online looking up opinions by fellow colleagues and movie fans, and even some of the clickbait headlines – all ranging from topics pertaining to why he’d casting a Sean Spicer cameo, to what his purpose was in using “Zombie” by The Cranberries; There’s definitely reason to analyze, pick apart and sift through the little bits of movies, after all, we’re talking film analysis, and I would never take that away from anyone. Tweet to your heart’s content, I say. On that note, I’ve spent the past three weeks fending off a goddamn headache from my lower-jaw up to my head. Plus, I’m still a little sleep deprived and lagging on reviews that I need to work on and frankly, I currently don’t feel like dealing with a lot of the brouhaha and Tweet-fighting over Snyder. So, unless I’m compelled otherwise, this review of Army Of The Dead will be the extent of my litigation over Snyder and this flick, and that will be that.

RelatedPosts

OBI-WAN KENOBI Review: Patience, Young Padawans

THE COCKTAIL PARTY Review: Martial Arts Mayhem At A Mixer Serves Up An Enduring Etiquette Lesson

HELL HATH NO FURY Review: War Games And Psy-Ops Outline A Peculiar Heroine’s WWII Tale

From a script written by Snyder along with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold, actor Dave Bautista stars as Scott Ward, an ex-soldier/widower reduced to flipping burgers in the aftermath of a deadly zombie attack, turning Las Vegas into a walled-off, citywide hive for the undead. Propositioned by a casino owner named Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) to retrive hundreds of mjllions more out of a safe for a 25% trade off, Ward – after a few beats and a troubling sleep – rounds up some of his old surviving unit members, Cruz (Ana de la Reguera), Vanderohe (Omari Hardwicke), and a partly-CG’d Peters (Tig Notaro), in addition to several more ragtag knuckleheads to comprise his team: an oddball safecracker named Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), viral video sharphooter named Guzman (Raul Castillo) and his right-hand triggerwoman, Chambers (Samantha Win), and a coyote named Lily (Nora Arnezeder), for the incursion into Vegas.

Adding to the fluctuating “woulds” and “coulds” of this story are the involvement of Tanaka’s personal associate, Martin (Garrett Dillahunt), the albeit troubling prerogative of his estranged and only daughter Kate (Ella Purnell) – a WHO volunteer at a quarantine facility eager to search for the missing mother of two children, and a creepy facility guard Cummings (Theo Rossi) at Lily’s behest. From the moment they embark on their joruney into the desolate city, the team finds itself learning a little more about the undead, and the unnerving will to survive sets upon the team with a presumed time frame of a day before the government nukes the city. What they don’t know, however, are the ulterior motives set in place by a member of their team, and with the zombies themselves, including the voracious undead Alpha King and Queen (Richard Cetrone and Athena Perample) stalking the bunch, it’s only a matter of time before all the cards are dealt and its every man for themselves, for richer or poorer, dead or alive.

For Ward, however, the stakes are much higher, having presumably “run” from Kate in the wake of the tragic turning point that changed his relationship with her forever. Part and parcel to this is a mark in his characterization as someone with a tendency to misread the room at times – something that also affects his romantic prospects with one other member of the team. Ward is Snyder’s post-war everyman; someone looking toward a more simple life. He’s Peter Berg’s Beck a la The Rundown without the incorrigible buddy antics of a sidekick and fear of using a gun when duty calls, and Kate herself, know not as tactically empowered as her father, is provenly able to point and shoot as well when the going gets tough.

Netflix

Culminating the duo’s presence is a cast roster for what aspires to be a meaty, gory action horror feature keen to at least partly tickle the nostalgic interest of fandoms of classic staples like Predator (1987) and Aliens (1986). Encumbent with its execution are some of the kinds of audacious creative choices that you might (or might not) expect from Snyder, and no, I’m not going to get into all that controversy. What I can tell you is that Army Of The Dead delivers exactly what it sells on the tin as an in-your-face, hyperviolent action thriller with some ample character development to make it worth your while. Despite its overlong runtime, it’s got some sweet moments of story, drama and action as well to Bautista’s benefit, as well as several cast members. Actress and comedienne Notaro owns in the role of Peters (by way of a two million dollar reshoot of scenes that previously included now-disgraced actor Chris D’Elia) and no one can tell me different; de la Reguera’s Cruz brings an understandable poignance in her chemistry with Ward; Dieter’s goofy disposition comes well balanced with a level of genius that eventually makes him palatable to Vanderohe and the team, including Castillo’s “Guz” at one point a la hair appreciation.

There’s a plot point involving a government conspiracy that bodes as much more of an afterthought and there’s really no kind of catharsis after that. After all the damage has been done, bodies are dropped and the good guys and gals try and get in one last hoorah, Army Of The Dead is what it is, whether you like it or not. One footnote I’ll chime in on though, is the cameo casting of Sean Spicer and Donna Brazile. Yeah, I despise the likes of Spicer and anyone else who’s worked to the benefit of the Orange Traitor The Hutt, but I have issue with both these two, and still, in my view at least, neither nobody’s grievances with all these assholes, nor mine, are of no matter.

As much as folks are eager to portend with urgency whilst taking to Snyder’s penchants whatever they are, at the end of the day it’s about his movies, and the fact that after seventeen years of seeing him build his resumè, moviegoers are still talking about him. He’s a hitmaker for the studios, a fact that Netflix’s Army Of The Dead isn’t afraid to echo (which is more than I can say for WarnerMedia in its resolve to shitcan the Snyderverse despite the fact that Zack Snyder’s Justice League SLAPS), and if you still have something to say about it, it means that Snyder’s done his part, which is really all we can ask for until he stirs the pot with the next one.

Stream Zack Snyder’s Army Of The Dead on Netflix

Like this Article? Subscribe to Our Feed!

Lee B. Golden III
filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com | Website

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Pocket
  • Telegram
  • Skype
Tags: army of the deaddave bautistanetflixzack snyder
Share3Tweet2ShareShareSend
Please login to join discussion
No Result
View All Result

Categories

  • Acquisitions and Release
  • Animation
  • books
  • Campaigns
  • Casting
  • Contests
  • Editorials
  • Exclusives
  • Festivals And Events
  • First Looks
  • Guest Articles
  • Home Releases
  • In Production
  • In-Development
  • Interviews
  • Markets
  • News
  • Now Streaming
  • OPINIONS
  • Posters
  • Retro Reviews
  • Retro Reviews
  • Reviews
  • Short Reviews
  • Shortfilms
  • Stills
  • Stream This
  • Teasers
  • Television
  • THE HIT LIST
  • The Hit Listers
  • Trailers
  • Watch Now
  • Webseries

Recent Posts

  • OBI-WAN KENOBI Review: Patience, Young Padawans
  • ANDOR: Star Wars Celebration Debuts Official Series Teaser For ‘Rogue One’ Tie-In Series
  • News Briefs: Netflix’s HORIZON ZERO DAWN; Casting Updates On THE LAST KING OF THE CROSS, FLINT STRONG And TIN SOLDIER
  • TAKE THE NIGHT: Catch The Trailer For The New Crime Thriller Releasing In July!
  • New SPEED RACER Series In The Works At Apple

Recent Comments

  • ROAD TO REVENGE aka ROYALS' REVENGE (2020) Recensioni e panoramica di Western – FILM e MANIA - John Hockenberry [IT] on ROYALS’ REVENGE Review: Christopher Sheffield And Kellen Garner Craft A Vengeful Indie Western Dish Served With Savvy Entertainment
  • Blu-Ray Review: Donnie Yen's Raging Fire - The Spool on INVISIBLE TARGET : Benny Chan’s Cops & Robbers Martial Arts Action Epic
  • NIGHTSHOOTERS (2018) Recensies en nieuws over de Amerikaanse release - John Hockenberry [NL] on Marc Price’s NIGHTSHOOTERS Is Pure, R-Rated Martial Arts Action And Comedy Fun
  • HIFF41 Honoree Spotlight: Why Albert Pyun Matters | Hawai'i International Film Festival on Albert Pyun Announces His Retirement From Film
  • MacGyver Reboot Update #157 | Dashboard On Fire on THE EXPENDABLES 4 Lands Multiple Territories As Filming Commences, Adds Cast

Archives

Latest News on PopGeeks.net:

Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram

Friends of filmcombatsyndicate.com

henshinjustice.net

Friends of filmcombatsyndicate.com

dcanimated.com

Hosted By:

Friends of filmcombatsyndicate.com

popgeeks.com

© 2021 Film Combat Syndicate.

No Result
View All Result
  • Film Combat Syndicate
  • Forums
  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact Us

© 2021 Film Combat Syndicate.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.