Army of the Dead Review: A Fun, Mindless Rollercoaster

Riding hot off the success of his cut of  ‘Justice League’, Zack Snyder is back once again, though this time he is trading caped crusaders for hordes of the undead.

Not many directors have had the chance to not only create but also publish multiple films during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but that hasn’t slowed down long-term industry veteran Zack Snyder. Those coming into ‘Army of the Dead’ with knowledge of Snyder’s previous work will know that this isn’t the first time the director has touched the zombie genre, with Snyder making his directorial debut with the 2004 remake of George A. Romero’s classic zombie flick Dawn of the Dead.

‘Army of the Dead’ balances the tough act of combining the best parts of the slowly dissipating zombie genre with that of a blockbuster heist film. Those looking for a deeply compelling narrative would do best to look elsewhere as, for the most part, ‘Army of the Dead’ plays to Snyder’s main strength: visuals. That is not to say that there aren’t any compelling moments present in the 2 hour and 30-minute film. Lead actor Dave Bautista, who’s become known more recently for his character of Drax in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, is given small moments within the movie to really show his acting range, something which I hadn’t experienced before from this actor.

Bautista isn’t the only big name present in the $90 million blockbuster as the film sees him team up with Ella Purnell (Kate Ward), Ana de la Reguera (Maria Cruz), Omari Hardwick (Vanderohe), and many more. By far one of the standout performances of the film has to go to Matthias Schweighöfer (Ludwig Dieter) who offers a comedic yet believable performance as the German locksmith.

Visually speaking, everything is fantastic with there only ever being some noticeably poor CGI in one or two instances throughout the film’s runtime. Snyder also took the opportunity to once again recruit the talent of Tom Holkenborg AKA Junkie XL to produce the film’s enigmatic yet spooky score.

For those who didn’t enjoy Zack Snyder’s previous work, I doubt ‘Army of the Dead’ will do much to win you over, but for those who love Snyder’s distinctive style, this film is well worth checking out. With theatres in Ireland set to reopen on June 7^th, this would definitely be worth going to see on the big screen.