When people hear of zombies in a movie or TV series, their existing knowledge instantly directs them to scary-looking characters that have returned from the dead to feast on living people’s brains. Looking at every other film about zombies, it starts from a single alpha zombie to a swarm of zombies, making them antagonists and obstacles to whatever the main character’s goals are. On the other hand, the movie “Army of The Dead” surprises viewers with unique details about zombies that the audience has never heard of but makes the movie just as interesting and exciting.
“Army of the Dead” is a 2021 zombie heist film directed and written by Zack Snyder, along with co-writers Shay Hatten and Joby Harold. The movie features an array of actors such as Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi, and Garret Dillahunt. The main characters are a group of mercenaries who plan a heist in a famous casino in Las Vegas. The only problem is there is a zombie apocalypse in their way.
The movie had a $70-90 million budget and was filmed in New Jersey, New Mexico, Los Angeles, and Nevada. “Army of the Dead” was released in selected theaters in the United States on May 14th, 2021 and debuted on Netflix on May 21st. Along with other films that Snyder has directed, it presents heavy action, emotion, and the overall cinematography is on point. What makes this film different from the others is that it replicates the cliches with what people associate with zombies but also gives them new unique attributes that catch our attention and interest.
“Army of the Dead” successfully delivered expressing each character’s personality and intention in the story. The overall mood and theme that Zack Snyder is going for are perfectly executed. The setting is the city of Nevada, pretty much destroyed and turned into a barren wasteland of zombies where they made it their kingdom. The movie could not have been more perfectly shot, considering the accuracy of the setting and its intricate details. As well as the visual effects, it highly contributed to the tone and setting of the film. The storyline associates fast forward transitions where they show a stream of events with killer background music building up from scene to scene of important events to pay attention to.
Overall, the movie delivered suspense, a slight hint of humor, emotional backstories, and a lot of killing and action. The most surprising element of the film is how they entailed new aspects to how we would view a typical zombie in a movie. The movie’s ending is not how we would all expect it to be, given the last scene, with how everything did not fall into place. Indeed, there will be another upcoming movie to connect this film. Without a doubt, everyone will be on the lookout for what is next.
Resources:
