Bob Strauss May 14, 2021Updated: May 14, 2021, 4:31 pm
Dave Bautista plays Scott Ward in the Netflix movie “Army of the Dead.” Photo: Clay Enos , Netflix
Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead” is the first Netflix movie to get a wide theatrical release, starting this Friday, May 14, a week ahead of its debut on the streaming service. But it’s hard to imagine a bigger, more action-packed and sumptuous (if gory) spectacle to launch this pandemic-necessitated partnership between traditional business rivals.
Reopening theaters need flashy content to lure back customers, especially as newer streamers are moving in on Netflix’s turf (even Snyder’s “Justice League” director’s cut was released straight to streaming on HBO Max). Plus, Snyder’s first zombie film since his debut feature, the 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” is his most enjoyable in 17 years as well.
Army of the Dead is a gleefully gory good time
Image: clay enos / netflix
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There is nothing subtle about Zack Snyder s
Army of the Dead. That is both its strength and its weakness and sometimes, somehow, both at once.
It opens on a group of soldiers calling themselves the Four Horsemen and carrying an apocalyptic payload, which is unleashed once their vehicle crashes into a dude getting road head from his new bride. One bloody thing leads to another, and the hot-pink opening credits play over a montage of zombie showgirls rampaging through the casinos, of military planes carpet-bombing the Strip, of muscled warriors taking out the undead by slicing them, squashing them, and riddling them with bullets until they re reduced to pulp â all set to the soundtrack of a Liberace impersonator singing Viva La
Posted on May 14, 2021 by Blog Feature // 0 Comments
8SHARES
A former zombie war hero (Scott Ward). His estranged daughter (Kate). An ace mechanic (Maria Cruz). A zombie killing machine (Vanderohe). A cynical helicopter pilot (Marianne Peters). A go-for-broke influencer and his ride-or-die (Mikey Guzman and Chambers). A head of security (Martin). A badass warrior (Coyote). A security guard (Burt Cummings). A German safe cracker (Dieter). Who will survive in Zack Snyder’s
Army of the Dead?
In this special “Army of the Dead: In or Out” music video, Netflix highlights the film’s featured heistmates to the tune of Filipino hit song “In or Out.” See synchronized killer moves, a living-dead dancing queen, and an energetic frontman singing “Sino kaya ang in or out sa pusta n’yo?” Zombie dancers give it their all, boogying and holding up signs to help viewers choose their bets.
Army of the Dead is now in select theaters. It hits Netflix beginning on
May 21st.
Synopsis:
From Zack Snyder (300, Justice League). ARMY OF THE DEAD takes place following a zombie outbreak. One that left Las Vegas in ruins and walled off from the rest of the world. Enter Scott Ward (Dave Bautista). A displaced Vegas local, former zombie war hero. He’s now flipping burgers on the outskirts of the town he now calls home. But then he’s approached by casino boss Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada). And he has the ultimate proposition. Break into the zombie-infested quarantine zone to retrieve $200 million sitting in a vault beneath the strip. Before the city is nuked by the government in 32 hours. Driven by the hope that the payoff could help pave the way to a reconciliation with his estranged daughter Kate (Ella Purnell), Ward takes on the challenge, assembling a ragtag team of experts for the heist.