5/22/21 - Army of the Dead (2021) - a very low 4-/10
There is the nugget of a solid film here, with it even beginning to branch out into interesting and entertaining directions, but it has 2 major problems: the script and the direction.
I don’t think that Snyder can reliably be called on to write meaningful, impactful, and relatable emotional dialogue. That is then paired with his utter lack to compose resonant empathetic character scenes and his inability to bring forth performances to make up for those other shortcomings. Yes, there is trite inane dialogue, continual plot holes, and dumb character beats (those being the icing on his “sepia-toned washed out color palettes, excessive slow-motion, blaring smack-you-in-the-face dumb music choices, and inability to edit any project down to a prudent length” Snyder cake), but it is the inability to consistently bridge the emotional gap between the characters/film and the audience that neuter so much of his work. This is just another bullet in the chamber.
Contrived, dumb, and so much of it makes no sense, not even mentioning robot zombies (?). There is a slight interest bump it gets in zombie lore expansion (taking the later Romero Dead flicks and I Am Legend smart zombies up a notch), but it only goes so far. What I think should have been more fun is annoyingly long and grindingly stolid.
*While I may not tend to care for Zack Snyder’s films, he legitimately seems like a good guy and I certainly appreciated his injection of Tig Notaro into the film after the shitty behavior of the previous actor. Good on him.*
