532: Army of the Dead

[00:00:01] Let's get to Army of the Dead, which is a Netflix original. It came out in 2021 and is directed by Zack Snyder.

[00:00:12] Stars Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Matthias Schweigoffer, Theo Rossi, Gaird Dillahunt, Tig Notaro.

[00:00:24] And the synopsis is, Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.

[00:00:41] So this was a big move for Zack Snyder considering he went to release movies through Netflix, at least up until now, considering he just did Rebel Moon 1 and 2.

[00:00:57] I was very much looking forward to this. I don't care what anybody says, I'm a Zack Snyder fan. He's not a perfect filmmaker. He has his flaws, but more often than not, I am impressed. I'm entertained.

[00:01:13] The epic nature of his movies, the style, the passion he obviously has for filmmaking. I can't help but enjoy that and forgive some of the shortcomings that other people maybe hate him for.

[00:01:31] And I know some people hate that he bloats his movies to really long run times. I mean, just look at the director's cuts of Rebel Moon. They're like three, four hours long. Or the director's cut of Justice League. I don't care. The more the better.

[00:01:49] Might as well, if you have that ability, which few do. Besides Zack Snyder, I really like zombie movies, apocalypse movies. That's just a genre that I like.

[00:02:04] And Zack Snyder is very much a genre filmmaker. Before I get into the movie itself, one more thing.

[00:02:14] I totally get why so many big filmmakers like Zack Snyder, Martin Scorsese, even Bradley Cooper recently migrate to Netflix to do certain movies or a lot of their movies because they have pretty much endless amounts of money.

[00:02:33] They don't have to worry about box office, really. They have a wider audience. They seem to have more creative control. So I don't fault them for doing that in this day and age.

[00:02:45] But considering the very blockbuster nature of Zack Snyder's movies, I really dislike that these last few are released solely through Netflix.

[00:02:56] I think that from an experience standpoint, from the viewer, is a letdown.

[00:03:04] I would love to see something like Rebel Moon, the director's cut, in a theater.

[00:03:12] And I know that Army of the Dead was released in theaters very briefly, but I hate that it really, when it comes down to it, is streaming content.

[00:03:22] But anyways, for the movie itself, I've seen it three times now, I think, all the way through.

[00:03:32] And it's never going to be the best of Zack Snyder, but as far as zombie movies go, big zombie movies, I think it's pretty solid.

[00:03:42] It's grown a little bit since that first viewing.

[00:03:47] It's filled with a lot of zombie genre tropes, in a good way, I think.

[00:03:53] The cast is solid.

[00:03:58] I like Dave Bautista a lot.

[00:04:00] He's also grown on me over the years.

[00:04:04] There's not a lot for anyone to do, but everybody has their little personality quirks and are identifiable enough for me to not really care that much about them,

[00:04:16] but for me at least to set them apart.

[00:04:19] I do think, though, that the idea for this heist in the middle of a zombie apocalypse at a casino is pretty clever.

[00:04:30] Like, I've never really seen another film do that in that context.

[00:04:37] Despite me not really caring that much about the runtimes for Zack Snyder movies, it does take a while to get going.

[00:04:47] I think the opening is good with that military transportation convoy, and then there's an asset, and it's revealed to be a zombie.

[00:04:59] It's more so everything in that first act that you just have to get through all the character setups, all the plot lines that are going to be followed up later and connected.

[00:05:09] So I'm waiting for them to get to Las Vegas.

[00:05:14] But when they do get there, and they first encounter the king and queen zombies, I'm decently invested.

[00:05:26] Zack Snyder is also a very, not always, but usually a pretty gory, violent filmmaker, and so there's a lot of CGI blood in this.

[00:05:35] I don't mind that.

[00:05:36] There's a lot of, I think, practical makeup on the zombies.

[00:05:39] I know that when it came out, one criticism by fans and or maybe the average viewer as well, they're saying how it was stupid to have a zombie hierarchy, basically, in this movie.

[00:05:58] When you have the king and queen, and you have the quote-unquote smarter zombies as opposed to the followers or the soldiers, kind of.

[00:06:11] Maybe I'm projecting there.

[00:06:13] I just am remembering what I read and heard about it.

[00:06:18] But I don't really understand that because, like, really that's where you draw the line as to the illogical nature of this movie.

[00:06:27] It's, no, it's not zombies.

[00:06:30] You know, it's not a zombie ridden Las Vegas or they're pulling off a heist.

[00:06:36] So, to me, I could care less about that.

[00:06:38] I think that's interesting.

[00:06:41] That's another creative element that I haven't really seen that much of in the zombie genre.

[00:06:46] It's mainly just every zombie is the same end of story.

[00:06:52] And that's okay, too.

[00:06:53] I think there's a time and place for both.

[00:06:58] Some standout scenes when you do first encounter the king and queen zombie and that guy gets taken into the horde.

[00:07:08] And they have those weird mating calls and communication.

[00:07:13] The sacrifice of the Hispanic woman when she blows herself up.

[00:07:22] Also, character-wise, probably my favorite is the coyote lady, Tig Notaro.

[00:07:32] A very enjoyable, unexpected casting in the movie.

[00:07:36] She's very funny across the board, but I really like her in this as the helicopter pilot.

[00:07:44] Hiroyuki Sanada.

[00:07:46] Fantastic actor.

[00:07:47] Like, such a great actor in everything.

[00:07:50] Whenever he pops up in a movie or a show, I'm totally in.

[00:07:57] The safecracker guy.

[00:07:58] I think he's a very charismatic, fun actor.

[00:08:01] He kind of reminds me of a way more toned down and charming Ryan Reynolds.

[00:08:08] Sorry if that's a hot take, but I feel like he's the kind of character that would normally be played by Ryan Reynolds.

[00:08:16] But this guy does it way better.

[00:08:20] The safecracking scene when they're down at the vault and things go wrong.

[00:08:26] And then that eventual, one of the more impressive direction moments, action-wise, is the escape through the main casino lobby.

[00:08:36] And there's all that slow-mo and the crazy gunfights and holding off the horde.

[00:08:45] The revenge or comeback of the zombie king launching himself at the helicopter on the roof.

[00:08:54] The climax of the bomb going off in Las Vegas.

[00:08:57] Eh, I mean, I can understand the logic of it, I guess, and the time running out and them trying to get away.

[00:09:05] But that whole part, once they get onto the helicopter, just goes on a little too long.

[00:09:10] I'm ready for it to be over.

[00:09:12] I don't care that much about Dave Bautista and his daughter reconnecting and burying the hatchet.

[00:09:20] I'm just like, okay, zombies are gone.

[00:09:24] Conflict over.

[00:09:25] Heist over.

[00:09:26] Let's wrap it up.

[00:09:30] Even though that final teaser of the guy realizing, oh crap, I was bitten.

[00:09:36] I'm going to turn sooner or later.

[00:09:38] And that leads you into what I'm guessing.

[00:09:40] I think they have announced a sequel at some point.

[00:09:42] And they did do the spinoff movie, Army of Thieves, about the safecracker, which we did not need at all.

[00:09:51] It's not a terrible movie, but very throwaway.

[00:09:58] Also, the score is quite good.

[00:10:00] The soundtrack is great.

[00:10:02] That's pretty typical with Zack Snyder.

[00:10:08] In the next couple of months, maybe, I'm going to try and do a Zack Snyder premium podcast,

[00:10:13] just covering all of his movies, or at least most of them,

[00:10:17] because there's a lot to say about his movies, The Good and The Bad.

[00:10:21] That one is a heavy four out of five.

[00:10:28] That is the best movie to try and do it.

[00:10:28] If it's a character and do it, I'll take some time to prove it.

[00:10:28] That's the best movie to catch you