Zack Snyder has had issues previously as well with the length of his movies, and his latest offering, Army Of The Dead, suffers from the same again. At 148 minutes the editing of the movie by Dody Dorn comes out as unnecessarily lengthy for something that looks like a video game mission set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Zack began his directorial journey with Dawn Of The Dead (2004), and now after 17 years, seeing Army Of The Dead, it feels like Zack hardly had a growth trajectory in the way he shoots a zombie heist action film. Apart from getting alpha zombies, who basically can take orders from humans, there’s hardly anything new.
The film’s core plot is that of a father-daughter relationship. Bit, it is bereft of any real emotional impact. Besides that, there is no story at all and it comes out more like a splurge of action sequences all sewn together.
To the credit of the movie, the action sequences are nicely choreographed and shot. The last 40-45 minutes of the movie have some great fights and thrills. Another credit-worthy thing in the film is the usage of zombie animals, which has hardly ever been used before. If you’re an action lover then, there is an entire action sequence with a zombie tiger, which might be your thing!
Dave Bautista as Scott Ward is only about brawn and devoid of emotions like he exudes in the Marvel universe. His acting is dull and single-dimensional with no scope for a variety in expressions. As an Indian, you would be excited to see Huma Qureshi as Geeta, a refugee single mother of two who requires money to start a new life for her family. But, her character doesn’t have any immediate impact on the storyline. She isn’t one of the people trying to kill the zombies and save the world. She is more like a damsel in distress and her character could’ve been done by just about any junior artiste. The rest of the lead cast members are there throughout but barely have noteworthy dialogue. In fact, it is the absence of nuanced performances by the actors that stops the viewer from getting invested in this emotional father-daughter journey.
There is also a musical montage by Tom Holkenborg in the opening credits, which has been done very intricately. In closing, Army Of The Dead is built on a wafer-thin story with a done-to-death way of showing the zombie post-apocalyptic world. If you’re a huge action aficionado then you might enjoy the closing 45 minutes of the movie. Others can give this a pass. AVOID. I am going with 1.5 stars.
Title: Army Of The Dead
Cast: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Nora Arnezeder, Ana de la Reguera and Huma Qureshi
Director: Zack Snyder
Platform: Netflix
Rating: 1.5 stars
