The latest Hollywood zombie blockbuster comes in the shape of ARMY OF THE DEAD (2021), made by Netflix and directed by Zach Snyder, no stranger to the genre after his 2004 DAWN OF THE DEAD remake. This one's an 'anything goes' comic book-style action adventure in which a crack team are sent into Las Vegas to retrieve a fortune from an underground vault. Two things complicate the situation: 1) the entire city is shortly to be nuked, and 2) the city is overrun with fast-moving zombies. I had no idea what to expect from this one and the end result is enjoyable to a degree, albeit with plenty of caveats.
The main problem with the film is that it's surprisingly cliched. ALIENS seems to be a particular inspiration here, with one character a direct copy of Vasquez and the entire climax essentially copying the James Cameron classic. The second problem is that at two and a half hours in length it goes on far too long, with characters regularly pausing for heart-to-heart conversations - ridiculous when they're surrounded by zombies and, later on, a bomb is due to detonate in twenty minutes! A Hollywood trope I always hate to see. Half an hour excised from this would have made it pacier and more exciting. On the plus side, once it gets going it holds together quite nicely, with tons of gory mayhem and a kind of zombie hierarchy that feels based on the White Walkers in GAME OF THRONES; plenty of solid actors in the cast doing their thing well too. It's hardly an unmissable film, but in the tradition of 'switch your brain off' Hollywood entertainment it's not too bad.
The main problem with the film is that it's surprisingly cliched. ALIENS seems to be a particular inspiration here, with one character a direct copy of Vasquez and the entire climax essentially copying the James Cameron classic. The second problem is that at two and a half hours in length it goes on far too long, with characters regularly pausing for heart-to-heart conversations - ridiculous when they're surrounded by zombies and, later on, a bomb is due to detonate in twenty minutes! A Hollywood trope I always hate to see. Half an hour excised from this would have made it pacier and more exciting. On the plus side, once it gets going it holds together quite nicely, with tons of gory mayhem and a kind of zombie hierarchy that feels based on the White Walkers in GAME OF THRONES; plenty of solid actors in the cast doing their thing well too. It's hardly an unmissable film, but in the tradition of 'switch your brain off' Hollywood entertainment it's not too bad.