The Mosley Review: Army of the Dead
What happened to the zombie film genre? Why are zombie films so far and inbetween? I remember a time when zombie films used to be plentiful. They had the same plot of survival, but they would also go into different pockets of film genres and it was so much fun. I guess Hollywood decided to move on as the genre became too plentiful and The Walking Dead tv series took over. The 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead is and will always be one of my favorite zombie films because of its introduction of running zombies. The tension was insane, the gore was brutal and I loved the innovation of showing a new rule of if you're bitten and you're pregnant, then expect a zombie baby. The film introduced the world to Zack Snyder and I've been waiting for him to return to the genre and this was a fantastically gory return. Right from the beginning of the film, the film takes you through an epic, bloody, tragic, explosive and unique story driven montage that sets up the tone and style. I love that the film didn’t shy away from making the story almost reflect our current world and it was almost scary how close the parallels were. This film also takes the zombie genre to next level by making not just monsters, but smarter and more human like. The great George A. Romero touched on it in Land of the Dead and I think he would approve of how Zack has evolved the concept.
Dave Bautista was excellent as Scott Ward. He gets another chance to blend his action prowess with his more dramatic acting abilities which have drastically improved. There are moments in the film where he broke my heart. Ella Purnell was great as his estranged daughter Kate and I loved the dynamic between them. You can feel the tension and the love they have and you hope for them to reconnect amongst the madness. Ana de la Reguera was good as Scott's friend Maria Cruz and I liked the chemistry between them. Theo Rossi is always great and he was good as the douche bag security guard Burt. Hiroyuki Sanada was fun as Bly Tanaka and he brought a bit of class to the film. Garret Dillahunt was perfectly slimy and untrustworthy as Tanaka's right hand man Martin. Nora Arnezeder was cool as Lily and she delivers the new lore and rules of the zombies that have taken over Las Vegas. Tig Notaro was fun as Marianne. She had a number of good quips in the film, but I didn't find her as hilarious as she could've been. Raúl Castillo and Samantha Win were great as Mikey Guzman and his friend Chambers. Mikey was all about the YouTube fame, but Chambers was secretly the most badass at killing zombies in one best action scenes I've seen all year. Richard Cetrone was awesome as the ruler of all the zombies Zeus. He exudes so much power in every movement he makes and he gives an emotional depth to an otherwise simple villain in the wrong hands. Athena Perample was equally fun and strong as his Queen. Now the ones that nearly stole the film for me were Omari Hardwick as Vanderohe and Matthias Schweighöfer as Ludwig Dieter. Once both of them arrive on screen and are paired together, it is comedy gold. They immediately play off the classic trope of the muscle and the brains working together. The weird, hilarious and nerdy bond the two of them have is just too much for this film to handle.
The score by Tom Holkenborg was excellent and most epic towards the last 30 minutes of the film. Like I said before, the opening montage was beyond fantastic and Richard Cheese's cover of Viva Las Vegas was a showstopper. The action in the film was excellent and features one of the best and most satisfyingly gory kills by a tiger I've ever seen. Writer and Director Zack Snyder has made a fantastic and fun zombie action heist film that will quench your thirst for blood and keep you entertained the whole time. This is definitely one of his best original films in years and I can’t recommend it enough. The Netflix original is now streaming. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
