Army of the Dead (2021) User Reviews

Major Spoilers - Everything wrong with this movie

[mitchellkendrickwhite · 6/10 · 19 May 2021]

This movie is for those who can turn off your mind and just enjoy things being destroyed. Here's why: 1) Every character death was annoying and pointless. For example, the first girl to die was betrayed and left in the kitchen. It would have been fine if they left her there to die and maybe it would create some tension in the group. Nope. She comes storming back into the hallway and then dies in front of anyone... without pointing out that the dude betrayed her. Also, why didn't anyone shoot the zombies around her? They just watched her die. Example #2: the German dude... finally uses a brain cell and decides to go for the vault. This was obviously the smart move... but he closes his friend in there and dies outside. What was his plan? To lock his friend in and just wait out there with the other zombies? What a moron. Hop in... then pull it in to close it. Example #3, the chick holding the head. Why not set the head on the floor, aim at it and walk back into the chopper. Nope. She decides to sacrifice herself. For no reason. Nice. Also, why was she carrying it around?

2) The daughter is insufferable. Her reasoning for even being in the movie is a joke. She cares soooo much about this random mom that she just has to go back in there for her. False. When the helicopter crashes, the chick doesn't look for the mom or care about her at all. She only goes up to her dad. The script just forgets about the mom. I honestly was hoping the daughter would die because she only complicated things and makes bad decisions. Why assume the people are in the Olympus? Why not ask your dad to go with you? Why not bring more than a pistol into the quarantine area? But apparently we should care about her because the main character does.

3) Every shot is a headshot. Even the daughter shoots the main zombie in the head twice from 50 yards. The zombies decide to not bit when they are clearly in biting distance. This basically made the movie boring because you knew the main characters weren't in any danger until a scene was coming to a close.

4) They leave the gate wide open when walking into the quarantined area. This killed me. I guess I should have stopped thinking at this point in the movie.

5) If the bad dude's plan was just to get the vile of blood, then why not shoot the scout. Take its blood and leave. Tell the group they will get paid and let's go back now. Nope. Betray everyone for no reason (tell them you'll kill the helicopter pilot for no reason) and go for a head of the main chick. Cool.

6) Why did the zombies keep some people for a few days? No explanation... just need to keep the mom alive so the girl is justified in ruining everything. Actually.. why would the girl even assume she was alive. What a dumb character.

7) Robot zombies? What? Why? I assume the Mexico City sequel will explain that the government created the alphas to control the others and use the zombies as weapons. But IDK. Cause it seemed like the government wanted zombie blood, which they could have gotten if that was the case. Makes no sense.

6/10 is generous. Only points given are for... releasing a movie during covid. At least it made me go to the theater.

What happens in Vegas...I didn't really care.

[dcj2 · 5/10 · 16 May 2021]

***Possible mild spoilers ahead ***I had such high hopes for this one. The slow-pacing of the first act promises something more than the typical two-dimensional characters, but it never pays off. When the action finally starts, it's just a sequence of events - this happens then that happens then something else happens. None of the character choices are driven by their backstories, they just do things to move things along to the next set piece. The pacing if awful. Just when the action gets up some steam, we pause for extended, quiet dialog scenes that add nothing to the story. Arguably the two most intiguing characters - the zombie leader and his...girlfriend? Are given no backstory at all. The action pieces are shot well enough, but nothing is all that original or memorable. The dialog is cringe worthy in a typical Zack Snyder way. The musical choices try too hard to be clever (Elvis singing "We're caught is a trap...", the Cranberries classic song "Zombie"...) are just too on the nose to be amusing. Overall the movie is waaaay too long. By the time we hit the 2-hour mark (with another half hour to go!) I had given up caring about any of the charavters and just wanted them to drop the nuke already so I could get on with my life. Snyder fanboys will no doubt love it, as is evident by all the 9 and 10 star reviews, but for the rest of us, this one is easily skipped.

Falls way short of its awesome potential

[RavingJinn · 6/10 · 21 May 2021]

A number of reviewers have already taken shots at the huge plot holes and ridiculous setup of this movie; I share in both their criticism and disappointment. If you happen to care about such lofty things like coherent storytelling or character development, I'd wait to watch this lazy entry into the zombie genre until you're either drunk or stoned to overlook its many problems.

And while Zack may have gotten some kind of personal thrill out of manning every major job in this project, the outcome has clearly suffered as a result. What could have been an otherwise outstanding zombie action flick, given proper attention to detail and an avoidance of lazy tropes, is instead no more than another sparkly yet mediocre piece of cookie-cutter movie confection.

The fact that more movie goers aren't outraged by the significant and apparently permanent drop in quality/intelligence of most these blockbuster Hollywood productions is what bewilders me. Apparently, just shoveling an old retread of a story into a production-line CGI machine is enough to satisfy most of today's audience, who blithely flock to, praise, and subsidize whatever vapid POS comes out. Are super hero action scenes really all we're after anymore? Isn't it time to demand more for your entertainment dollar?

Good concept, bad writing, and terrible characters

[harrymchall · 22 May 2021]

I'm not usually a fan of Zack Snyder's movies, but I do enjoy his visuals from time to time - maybe he should just stick to directing and leave the writing to those who know how to actually write a good movie with some interesting characters because this movie is just downright bad.

It's mindless fun - no more, and no less.

[tim-stjames · 7/10 · 13 June 2022]

You can't help but appreciate Snyder for the vision he brings to his projects, even if you disagree with so many decisions that go along with them. It's a really fun escape that captures the magic of the summer blockbuster with great action set pieces and a badass ensemble, it's so hard not to recommend.

This one needed a "Snyder Cut" down to 90 mins max

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 7/10 · 29 June 2021]

The 148 min runtime was way too long for the story Snyder wrote. There was just too much fluff and filler for the little substance the story actually had. Any attempts at humor were a failure, and Snyder missed many opportunities to add some good laughs to his writing.

Like another reviewer stated, what was the point of the daughter anyway? All it did was create an infantile conflict "kids don't listen to parents". And never mind the ridiculousness of the many plot holes, including how she even made it that far to find her friends - who were just hanging around with zero attempt to escape on their own.

I'm not really a big fan of the Zombie genre and feel it's been overdone, but I did like how Snyder had the different levels of intelligence and physicality, especially the Alphas.

The action and suspense was great, and the S/VFX, sets, and costumes amazing. The gore was just right. The cinematography was excellent, and contrary to other reviewers comments, I really enjoyed all cast performances, especially of course Bautista. I felt the score was a little overboard and overbearing.

Nevertheless, a good one-time watch. I'm not sure how much draw a Part 2 will have, but Snyder at least left that option open.

Things we learned from Army of the Dead :D

[erik-29-381626 · 3/10 · 21 May 2021]

I miss these lists, they were fun!

This movie was somewhat entertaining but also (and mostly) annoying:

Spoilers, and in random order, enjoy:

1: A leader zombie on top of a tall building, can look at a helicopter flying away, then give it 1 mile head start, go down to ground level, and still out run the helicopter on his dead horse.

2: The more people talk about a nuke coming, and time running out, the more relaxed they will feel and the slower they will move.

3: If a nuke is on the way and a helicopter comes to rescue you, you must still wait for the pilot to deliver a speech and give you permission to get on board, before moving at all.

4: A piece of make shift metal for a helmet will act as a magnet for all bullets aimed at that person, and will never even have a mark on it, after 10+ hits.

5: A woman who says she has a plan, while holding a zombie head, will keep staring at the helicopter taking off, probably because she remembered she didn't really have a plan.

6: The Military generally needs their orders given 2-3 times before reacting, and they will then react very slowly and with seemingly no training.

7: Having dark skin protects you from massive nuclear radiation in the same way it protects you better from the UV rays from the sun, compared to a very pale person.

8: A young woman with no military training will have trouble shooting a zombie in the head at point blank range but can hit 8 running zombies in the head with 8 bullets, from a distance.

9: A movie can last 2½ hours and still have very little character development.

10: People will call a young man "a kid" and make fun of him, because he's the nerdy safe cracker, in spite him having huge biceps and broad shoulders, like we know all nerds generally have in real life.

11: Noone will question why a billionaire wants a team to retrieve pocket cash for him.

12: A random woman is important to save, except if she gets on a helicopter, then we don't even have to see if she survives or not.

13: If a billionaire wants a live zombie head for himself, he won't just send a few hunters with a net to retrieve the first zombie they encounter, he will send an entire oblivious team with a mole in it, with a bank heist cover, and hope his mole can come through, because that's more fun, and the first option is too simple.

14: If 2 people on an elevator sees Zombies when the doors open, they will freeze up completely, because who expects to run into zombies in a city crawling with zombies?

15: Custom made hand grenades become fire balls when they explode.

Seen this one before...

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 22 May 2021]

The latest Hollywood zombie blockbuster comes in the shape of ARMY OF THE DEAD (2021), made by Netflix and directed by Zach Snyder, no stranger to the genre after his 2004 DAWN OF THE DEAD remake. This one's an 'anything goes' comic book-style action adventure in which a crack team are sent into Las Vegas to retrieve a fortune from an underground vault. Two things complicate the situation: 1) the entire city is shortly to be nuked, and 2) the city is overrun with fast-moving zombies. I had no idea what to expect from this one and the end result is enjoyable to a degree, albeit with plenty of caveats.

The main problem with the film is that it's surprisingly cliched. ALIENS seems to be a particular inspiration here, with one character a direct copy of Vasquez and the entire climax essentially copying the James Cameron classic. The second problem is that at two and a half hours in length it goes on far too long, with characters regularly pausing for heart-to-heart conversations - ridiculous when they're surrounded by zombies and, later on, a bomb is due to detonate in twenty minutes! A Hollywood trope I always hate to see. Half an hour excised from this would have made it pacier and more exciting. On the plus side, once it gets going it holds together quite nicely, with tons of gory mayhem and a kind of zombie hierarchy that feels based on the White Walkers in GAME OF THRONES; plenty of solid actors in the cast doing their thing well too. It's hardly an unmissable film, but in the tradition of 'switch your brain off' Hollywood entertainment it's not too bad.

Why was the Daughter character created in the first place?!

[deepkumar-spider · 1/10 · 24 May 2021]

The Girl who plays the daughter of Dave does nothing, She probably deserved to die first, & what's with her connection with the random lady called Geetha?!

She let her team in danger for some random lady and at the end she didn't even rescue her, What a piece of garbage this movie was for saving the girl who was hated by most of the audience...

Enjoy the ride.

[PalmersGreek · 7/10 · 24 May 2021]

The problem is that nowadays everyone thinks they're a film critic. Honestly, some of you have forgotten what it's like to sit back and enjoy a movie and instead seem hellbent on ripping it apart to it's bare bones and then holding up the pieces as if you're Roger Ebert reincarnated. But you're not. And he ain't come back as a zombie. So just watch and enjoy and ignore all the armchair experts. It's good fun. I loved the Dawn of the Dead remake. This is a very different film. But so what? It's a rollercoaster ride. I really cared about all of the characters. It moves the genre forwards. The action scenes are fantastic. It pays homage to those that came before it. And it stars Dave Bautista with a great supporting cast. What's not to like?

Messy, uninspired waste of time

[t-feier · 4/10 · 23 May 2021]

Unlike the movie, I'll keep it short: I know this is a zombie movie and didnt expect anything but a fun, gory popcorn flick. But oh boy, was I setting myself up for disappointment. The movie is so full of lazy tropes, bad dialogue and plot holes that its basically unwatchable.

If someone had just taken the time to correct some of the obvious errors and cut that bloated film down to 90 minutes it could have been great entertainment. But whoever was is charge here didnt care and what we got instead is an uninspired mess that just keeps dragging on.

The sad part is that the movie had some cool ideas and a lot of people clearly put a lot of love into it. The actors are doing the best they can, special and pracitcal effects are cool and so are props and costumes. But that alone cant change the fact that script and editing are horrible. To add insult to injury the ending was completly unrewarding and left me feeling tired and annoyed.

So even if you're just looking for entertainment: Dont watch this movie! Its an insulting waste of time.

For a genre that has been done to death, this was a decent effort.

[awaydayfootball · 8/10 · 21 May 2021]

I've given the movie a generous 8 really just to make up for the poor ratings it has received! The zombie genre has been pretty much run dry through movies and TV mainly over the last 15 years and the bad movies far out way the good. I thought this was a decent offering with a few fresh ideas. Some people on here saying "it's hard to screw up a zombie movie". Seriously. I'd love to know what wonderful new ideas others would bring to the table!!!

Not bad

[rorytoss · 7/10 · 21 May 2021]

Entertaining movie. I enjoyed it.

People are taking the movie to serious. It's a zombie film after all.

The reviewers say it right: this movie is just bad, sorry Zack.

[ThomDerd · 2/10 · 23 May 2021]

(Netflix...once again) A stupidly bad film. So much money spent for this rather silly zombie flick and Zack Snyder got a nice paycheck for preparing and executing a script of a 10 year old. I don't even know where to start with this dumb script and scenes, let alone the enormous runtime of more than 2h, which completely killed this film.

I thought I will see something cool once the starting titles went in; I found that small part a great start for a nice, interesting and intense Zack Snyder film. But little did I know...The dialogue is so bad that it is not even funny, the motivation of the protagonist(s) and the character development are non existent. If you see someone saying this movie is fun then it's either Netflix social media writers or people that have never ever seen a zombie flick before. Because this is clearly not fun, but more of a money run! 2/10 just for the starting titles.

Annoying

[Gordon-11 · 6 June 2021]

The story is somewhat taking, but the daughter is just very annoying that it makes me angry.

Spoilers - Watched it after Apex predators, that is why it is 7

[zone_braker · 7/10 · 23 May 2021]

Well, the whole point of the daughter going in is to find the kids mom. Kids who are still in the camp when the nuke drops and wipes it all out. What is up with robot zombies???? Why did safecracker only lock the black dude in?? Why does daughter have no injuries after crash?? Where is the mother after the crash?? How does zombie get pregnant?? Why did Coyote just keep standing in place with the queens head instead going for the chopper?? There are many more problems with the movie but at least it was kind of fun.

The daughter and the ending😒

[DaTruth510 · 7/10 · 17 May 2021]

The daughter almost completely ruined the movie for me. I loved almost all of it, the characters,the action,pacing, and the zombies but every time i started to lose myself in the movie the daughter would say or do something so stupid or just her attitude alone was super annoying. Completely compromising the mission and everyone else going after some woman because she has kids that are teenagers so not infants not caring who else loses their life because of her decision including her father's and of course she lives and everyone else dies. Just left me with frustration at the end. Something i would have enjoyed watching over if not for those elements. Oh yeah just when you think someone you wanted to survive lived through a nuclear blast just to find out he's bitten too lol. Come on Zack i thought we were tighter than that. Still though pretty cool zombie movie!

Just Bad

[krbodkin · 1/10 · 24 May 2021]

Slow, stupid and a painfully artificial narrow depth of field injected into every single shot. The characters are all abrasive. And the daughter, oh the daughter. I have never had to watch such a spoiled little brat sink a movie so fast.

It's fun. Nothing more nothing less.

[TheBabayaga · 7/10 · 14 May 2021]

For the most part you should bet all in for a good time because Army of the Dead is a riotous, gratuitous, gleefully over-the-top zombie thriller overloaded with guts, gore and visual flair. The plot is also irresistibly ludicrous. Think Aliens or Ocean's Eleven with zombies and you've pretty much got the gist. The whole package on display here is fun and utterly bonkers. Nothing more nothing less.

However, this being a Zack Snyder film, you should expect the usual frustrations, namely a lack of character development and a bum-numbing runtime. It's not without its other niggles, too. Following a strong opening credits sequence, pacing problems make way for a predictable introduction to an array of thinly veiled characters, all of whom appear to be discount versions of Burke and Vasquez from Aliens. It's clear to me the majority of this cast were picked for their collectively distinctive looks and little else.

Army of the Dead is also riddled with plot holes...and annoying character deaths. Take the largely insignificant character of Chambers for example. After she's led astray into a trap set by Martin, she amasses a totally badass 50 kill streak before being left for dead by her crew, including her sharpshooter best friend who does nothing to save her when there was ample opportunity to do so. WTF!? This was annoying and an unnecessary attempt to maintain the story's vague and far-fetched mystery. Chambers deserved better.

Look, I still stand by what I said. Army of the Dead is fun. Nothing more nothing less. There's no need for a Snyder cut of this film. For better or worse, this is a Zack Snyder film through and through; it's one of his better works since Watchmen (2009) and maybe enough to win over some of the stubborn Snyder skeptics.

even with a veteran hollywood director, netflix still produces trash

[FeastMode · 2/10 · 1 June 2021]

This movie is a mashup of cliches, tropes, dumb characters and useless subplots. I could tell early on it was going to be bad, but it kept getting worse.

Filled with eye-rolling moments, shockingly dumb parts, and things that make no sense. Like a lot. A lot a lot. Including parts that could have changed the entire course of the movie if the characters weren't so dumb in this poorly written script. They even do the anime trope of providing a ridiculous and unnecessary countdown to a deadline that they don't seem to follow at all

How could i forget... almost every single attempt at comedy fell completely flat. Not a chuckle, not even a smirk. Somewhere between crickets and rolling my eyes. And there was one comedic character that was one of the least comedic comedic characters i've ever seen.

There were some cool action scenes but not too many. I liked the stylized gore (reminded me of spartacus). The movie was way too long due to the useless subplots. But even if it was shorter, there was nothing special here. Everything felt a little off. And i cared zero for any of the characters or their well-beings. (1 viewing, 5/31/2021)

SPOILERS

i decided to list some of the most memorable dumb parts:

-when tanaka's guy betrayed the girl, they abandoned her when they could have easily saved her. And even worse, she stares into the eyes of her friend before she is killed and decides not to warn them that he might betray them all. Their lives are all in danger, but nah, let's just enjoy the moment

-speaking of staring into each other's eyes, when bautista and his daughter get to the chopper and instead of immediately leaving they decide to have a moment which likely got him killed

-right after that moment, zombie leader runs towards them as the pilot tries to leave as slowly as possible. But once the zombie is on board, she goes to fast

-right before that moment, bautista brings his daughter to the chopper which is gone. "she left us." hmmmmmm i wonder if they are gonna do the fake-out where she comes back just when we thought all is lost.

-multiple cringe-worthy self-sacrifice cliches

-one guy shot a zombie in the eye and chin, underneath was a glowing blue eye and a metal chin. Yes, just like a terminator. I even paused it and went frame by frame to confirm. Makes no sense. Unless that's a hint about what ghost from power said earlier about a loop of the same mission. If so.... BOOOOOO

-not so much a moment, but the entire subplot of saving the refugee mom was so pointless. Even worse, they didn't show us a scene of her reuniting with her kids, or even that she survives at all! In fact, the daughter character could have been completely removed without taking anything away from the movie other than runtime.

-we need to get a zombie to activate the booby traps.... or we can just use one of these numerous dead bodies to do the same thing without the dangers of capturing a live zombie. Smh

-the secret purpose of the mission is to get a zombie head. That could have been accomplished in 5 minutes without the elaborate money and safe-cracking

-the zombie tiger did nothing for me. And that's coming from someone who loves tigers. It reminded me of a crappy version of the bear from the movie annihilation, which was legitimately terrifying.

-the president decides to do the nuke a day early? Are you KIDDING ME?

-they have an hour and 20 minutes to leave. Cracking the safe needs 30 minutes, which he seems to do in time. But now they have 20 minutes

-in this 20 minutes they need to take this entire room full of cash to the roof. How is that going to happen?

-they act like they successfully got the money, but it was one guy holding two backpacks, which were lost when the zombies ripped them open. They made it seem like that's the moment the money was lost. But it was an entire room full of money. And they showed that room later on, still filled with money.

-there are probably 20 more things but i can't remember them.

Great entertainment

[mohdilmanqureshi · 7/10 · 24 May 2021]

A different type of zombies movie! I don't know why raiting is 6/10. You should watch it don't look at the bad reviews.

I generally love all zombie movies but wow... This was so bad.

[jonihaipus · 1/10 · 22 May 2021]

Comparing Zack's "Dawn of the Dead" and this piece of garbage is like comparing Mona Lisa and my idiot neighbors redheaded 6-year-old stepchilds scribbles.

A zombies movie

[franciscoinchau · 8/10 · 21 May 2021]

What do you expect? It's a zombies movie guys, don't think to much about the decision of the characters, or about why this happened in this way. Just sit, relax and enjoy explosions, dead and violence. If you want to see a majestic screenplay watch a Nolan movie, Scorsese or Tarantino movie.

They showed everything in the trailer and they even showed the best zombi fight scene in the opening credit scene via fast cut editing and then there was nothing left.

[Fella_shibby · 6/10 · 22 May 2021]

Edited : I recently revisited An American Werewolf in London n BA_Harrison rightly pointed out the similarities in the opening scene where a man falls down n as his buddy goes to lend his hand, a werewolf pounces n in this movie a zombie pounces.

Generous with a 6 cos it has some cool action n the zomtiger attack scene is bloody awesome.

There was no need to lock the team inside. Martin cud have easily told them the truth that keep all the money n more money but lemme have the head.

By just putting containers, they were able to restrict the intelligent zombies in one corner.

Vanderohe exits the vault like a piece of cake while it took hell lottuva effort by Dieter to open it.

A failed comedy

[siderite · 2/10 · 25 May 2021]

This film is directed and written by Zack Snyder?! It's garbage, from start to end. The only good bits in it are comedic and the rest is laughable, but not in a good way. It is a two hour and a half heist movie where everybody is an idiot. With zombies. They are idiots, too. The daughter, as usual, kills more people than the villains by being humane and in distress and, as unbelievable as it sounds, more of an idiot than everybody else.

Then there is the acting. Dave Bautista moves like a grandpa. Theo Rossi, who did pretty well in Luke Cage, has a ridiculous role that makes no sense. Garret Dillahunt was good in the Terminator series, but he acts like a jester in this film. Tig Notaro is not really funny after being the highlight of Star Trek Discovery. Hiroyuki Sanada... oh, Hiroyuki Sanada... he was never a good actor, let's face it, but the depths to which he fails as an actor are truly amazing.

And there is the story. A heist movie?! But with zombies that make no sense, with failed opportunities for sequels, with cardboard characters, with not one, but two straight white males that have to be brutally punished for their transgressions against women, with scenes like "I didn't do it for the money! I did it for youuuuu!". Jesus, it's worst than I am telling you it is, I just can't find the words to express the piece of excrement that this movie is.

So if you are really really really drunk, this might be funny. I don't know. I've never been that drunk, but it could happen.