Review of Army of the Dead
midlandsmovies • May 24, 2021
Army of the Dead (2021) Dir. Zack Snyder
Although we didn’t review it, I was quite the fan of the Snyder Cut of Justice League. Given a more free reign over his “vision” and allowed space to develop the characters further it was an interesting if slightly flawed reimagining of a film originally cut to pieces. Well, the cut to pieces part carries over from that (albeit as literal bloody carnage in this film's skirmishes) but so does the elongated run time in his new film Army of the Dead.
In short, the film is an Aliens-Ocean’s 11 riff as a gang of rag-tag fighters is challenged with stealing money from a casino bank vault in a zombie-infested Las Vegas. It’s a great idea, it really is, and young me would have lapped up the prospect. However, the 2 ½ hour run time, terrible script and Snyder’s own blurry cinematography strips the film apart like its bloodied victims.
The problems begin from its start as there appears not an ounce of originality. The obvious Aliens references seem an intentional nod with Burke, Vasquez and drop-ship equivalents front and centre. But the slo-mo (typical Snyder) stretched out (typical Snyder) cover-music infused (typical Snyder) opening is ripped from the superior Zombieland wholesale.
It’s shallow depth of field ensures most shots feel out of focus, you get endless Elvis/classic rock covers done in that breathy-acoustic style and the action has horrid Michael Bay vibes.
The dialogue is bad (“$2 million would change my life” Oh, really?) and the film takes a full one hour (!) for these stereotypical characters to even enter the Vegas compound to begin their heist. If you do watch it then jump in from that point as you won’t really miss anything of value.
I swear this is not an anti-Snyder rant, it’s an anti-this film one if anything, and I absolutely love 300 and Watchmen – his 2 best films by far in my opinion. But this movie squanders all its interesting ingredients and likeable actors like Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell and Nora Arnezeder who do well with flimsy parts.
What should have been a 90-minute fast-paced silly Zombie actioner, instead is a lengthy disappointment with its extensive run-time unable handle the absurd premise. Bringing nothing new to the table, Army of the Dead is a brain-dead b-movie which felt completely zombie-bland.
★★
Michael Sales
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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