ARMY OF THE DEAD
BLEEDING LAS VEGAS
ALMOST 15 YEARS AFTER IT WAS FIRST ANNOUNCED, ZACK SNYDER’S “GENRE-BUSTING” ZOMBIE HEIST THRILLER IS FINALLY HERE. NATURALLY WE GOT THE LOWDOWN ON ARMY OF THE DEAD FROM THE MAN HIMSELF…
WORDS: WILL SAL MON
WHATEVER KIND OF 2021 you’re having so far, it’s safe to say that it’s nothing like Zack Snyder’s. First came the release of the “Snyder Cut”, his oft-assumed-mythical four-hour-plus rework of Justice League. And now he’s returning to the genre that made his name with Army Of The Dead –a gloriously gruesome and outrageously entertaining “zombie heist” flick dreamed up at the start of his career. After a welldocumented tumultuous and tragic period in his personal and professional lives, it’s safe to say that the director is back – and then some.
“It’s cool, it’s fun,” Snyder laughs when SFX puts it to him that he is dominating pop culture in the first half of 2021. “The pandemic kind of makes it all seem, y’know, a little more abstract. I have an editing suite near my office, at the house, so everything’s kind of the same to me – we’re just working, and the movies are coming out. It’s cool. And, you know, I really enjoyed making this, as well as finishing up Justice League. It’s been a real pleasure.”
STORY OF THE DEAD
Anyone who’s seen the explosive trailer will know the plot of the film by now, but just in case you need a refresher, Army Of The Dead follows a ragtag group of soldiers as they’re tasked with entering the ruins of Las Vegas, a city that has fallen to the teeming hordes of the undead. But this is no government-sanctioned mission – these guys are mercenaries, led by troubled veteran Scott Ward (one-time Replicant and part-time Guardian of the Galaxy, Dave Bautista). The team has just a few days to get into the city, crack a casino safe and make it out with the tens of millions stashed inside before the city is nuked once and for all.
Scott is a hero of the Zombie War, a veteran who once saved the Secretary of Defense’s life, but now finds himself living alone and flipping burgers at a diner. He isn’t keen on returning to the fray at first, but eventually sees in the mission a chance to help his daughter, Kate (Ella Purnell). Grudgingly, he accepts the gig and starts putting together a team that includes old war buddies Cruz (Ana de la Reguera) and Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), ace chopper pilot Peters (Star Trek Discovery’s wonderfully acerbic Tig Notaro, very much playing to type here), nervy safe-cracker Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer) and a host of hired guns. But can they trust their employer, the shady Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his enforcers?