{"id":22762,"date":"2021-05-20T14:49:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T21:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22762"},"modified":"2021-05-20T14:49:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T21:49:44","slug":"army-of-the-dead-has-couple-of-wild-moments-but-feels-hollow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22762","title":{"rendered":"ARMY OF THE DEAD Has Couple of Wild Moments, But Feels Hollow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This film will be available to view May 21st<\/sup> on\nNetflix.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filmmaker Zach Snyder has spent the last decade producing\nand directing superhero films based on the sprawling DC comic book universe.\nHowever, he actually got his big break in 2004 helming a remake of the horror\nclassic, Dawn of the Dead<\/em>. Snyder has now returned to the zombie genre\nwith Army of the Dead<\/em>. His latest boasts plenty of gore and wild action,\nbut it also requires viewers to overlook nonsensical story elements and tonal inconsistencies.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story is set in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. After a massive zombie outbreak results in the famous strip and surrounding area being walled off from the rest of the country, the government considers dropping a nuclear weapon on the infested area. Scott Ward (Dave Bautista), a man who survived the initial undead assault, is hired by casino owner Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) to assemble a team of mercenaries and conduct a secret operation. The plan is for this small group to gain access to Tanaka\u2019s casino vault and recover $200 million dollars on site before the entire area is decimated by the bomb. But of course, Tanaka may have an ulterior motive for sending the group inside and Scott must contend with his estranged daughter Kate (Ella Purnell), who insists on joining the mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding a break-in heist element to a zombie picture is an intriguing\ntwist on the horror formula and the setting of Las Vegas makes for a colorful\nand visually arresting backdrop. As movie fans will already know, the director\nhas a distinct style and has been shooting big action set pieces for years,\nmeaning that the chases and gunfights involving zombies are all punchy and\namusing to watch. The opening scene and climax detailing a lengthy attack\ninvolving hundreds of monsters does contain thrills and chills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If only the characters were more fully drawn. This might seem\na surprising thing to complain about given the film\u2019s extended 2 and \u00bd hour running\ntime. Lead Bautista is a likable hero who tries to eke some drama out of a\npersonal trauma involving a family member. However, the script doesn\u2019t seem nearly\nas interested in anything with his backstory. The protagonist\u2019s struggles with\ndaughter Kate are underdeveloped and she isn\u2019t there to do more than roll her eyes\nand fight with those around her. As for the group of soldiers, they aren\u2019t given\nmore than a basic trait and the opportunity for posturing. At least co-star Tig\nNotaro makes an impression as a quick-witted chopper pilot who comments on the\nridiculousness of the situation (a couple of these notes seem improvised).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These flaws might be forgivable if the film was clever or\noffered satire to balance its extravagances. Sadly, the story doesn\u2019t make\nsense and there are bizarre editing choices and tonal imbalances. The film opens\nwith an extended montage presenting the original zombie rampage and the protagonist\u2019s\nhistory. It is choppily assembled and generally played for laughs with gory\nsight gags that unintentionally diminish any personal trauma for the leads to address\nlater in the film. Many of the leads make dopey decisions, or assert an idea\nbefore embarking on contradictory moves later in the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are even problems with the zombies themselves. We\ndiscover that some possess human emotions like rage, can movie quickly and act more\nintelligently than other undead folk. Yet the details and reasons why aren\u2019t explained\nin nearly enough detail, nor is much done with their extra gifts. And even the\ncasino owner\u2019s true motivations for the operation leave viewers wondering why\nhe went through with this elaborate ruse and didn\u2019t use his resources in a simpler\nand more direct manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end, this picture\u2019s wild and over-the-top events are\nultimately on display to impress with style over substance and the screenplay makes\nlittle logic. While the movie has an interesting concept and few entertaining moments,\nthe story is so confused and scattershot in tone that it isn\u2019t long before the film\nstruggles to keep viewers invested in the plot. Army of the Dead<\/em> may be one\nof the longest zombie movies ever made, but it ultimately feels half-baked and\nhollow. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film will be available to view May 21st on Netflix. Filmmaker Zach Snyder has spent the last decade producing and directing superhero films based on the sprawling DC comic book universe. However, he actually got his big break in 2004 helming a remake of the horror classic, Dawn of the Dead. Snyder has now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,697,1814,1815,1816,1817,5260,6844,9195,9319,12096,14680,22867,24803],"class_list":["post-22762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-action","tag-army-of-the-dead","tag-army-of-the-dead-film-review","tag-army-of-the-dead-movie-review","tag-army-of-the-dead-review","tag-dave-bautista","tag-ella-purnell","tag-hiroyuki-sanada","tag-horror","tag-las-vegas","tag-netflix","tag-tig-notaro","tag-zombies"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22762\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}