So is it finally cool to like Zack Snyder films again? With the backlash from enraged DC fanboys over the past few years from his controversial treatment of the Superman franchise, I’ve been somewhat hesitant to bring up praise for one of my favorite action directors, (mostly to avoid arguments). As nerds are finally vindicating him with his director’s cut of Justice League, it’s the perfect time for me to look forward to a new Snyder film. As luck would have it, he has just given us Army of the Dead, a Netflix produced zombie action film. 

A little while after the city of Las Vegas becomes quarantined because of a zombie takeover, casino owner Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) hires retired mercenary hero Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) to put together an expert team to break back into Vegas and steal $200 million from an underground vault. Unfortunately, they not only have to contend with the zombies, but the fact the government is planning on nuking the city in a couple of days time. On top of that, not everyone on Scott’s team seem to have their motivations in line with the given mission. 

While Bautista’s Scott Ward was definitely the “main hero” of the movie, it wouldn’t have been anything without the charming ensemble cast of mercenaries he assembles. Stand out performances include Omari Hardwick as Vanderohe (another former merc) and Matthias Schweighöfer as Dieter (a genius locksmith.) The banter between these two very opposite personalities was one of my favorite parts of the film, so much so that I almost felt like these characters were wasted by only being able to interact in this short amount of time. Another performance worth noting was Tig Notaro as Marianne Peters, expert pilot and engineer. While her delivery of this character was downright hilarious, it’s doubly impressive that she had to do it all in green screen, as she was a last minute replacement for Chris D’Elia, who was cut from the film due to sexual allegations. For the most part, her integration into the movie was seamless, with only a few moments when I didn’t feel like she was really there. 

 I never realized until I watched this, but I really miss movies like these. The over-the-top, melodramatic, “don’t question the realism” type of action horror films that we saw so many of in the 80’s and 90’s. Oh sure, we many get an occasional great one every few years now, but I honestly can’t remember a movie that made me feel like this since Pitch Black, which…sigh…came out 21 years ago. Oh sure, there was Shawn of the Dead, which is an excellent zombie action horror in it’s own right, but still shines brightest as a dry comedy. There was Prometheus, I guess. While I do defend Prometheus from the haters as a decent sci-fi horror, I still agree that it took itself far too seriously for how dumb some of it was. And it’s definitely no Aliens, which is what I consider to be the ultimate example of Sci Fi/Action/Horror. 

And you know what really did remind me of Aliens? Army of the Dead. I hope this doesn’t spoil it for anyone, but Army of the Dead felt way more like Aliens than any of the later Alien sequels or prequels. You may wonder if I’m going a little off-base here, since Army of the Dead is a zombie horror flick combined with a heist film. But trust me, if you’re an Aliens fanatic like me, you may really appreciate this film. 

Army of the Dead also reminded me of something else I greatly miss: Zach Snyder having actual fun with his movies. I feel like one of the problems with his DC films was he had to fit too narrow of a mold. I think film studio execs expected him to just follow a Christopher Nolan formula, when that just isn’t him. Synder flourishes more with films such as Sucker Punch, in which he can play around with as many genres as he wants and leave it up to the viewer on how deeply they want to interpret the result. 

The most ironic thing I find, is that I consider Synder to be one of the key creators of the “modern zombie film” with Dawn of the Dead, (which incidentally, isn’t at all in the same universe as Army of the Dead.) Yet, with Army of the Dead, Synder has somehow brought back an older school feel for the genre. This movie was just the un-apologetically fun burst of ham and cheese that we all needed after our own dreary year of the pandemic. And I will now proudly say, I can’t wait to see what he does next.