Netflix’s ridiculous bloodfest has the right hero and an unusual villain.
Has there ever been an actor likeDave Bautista?
The action-movie expectation is that literal giants Schwarzeneggers, Rocks, even Hemsworths will wink at their own physicality.
Zombies overrun Las Vegas in ‘Army of the Dead’.Clay Enos/NETFLIX
Their very selves become self-aware jokes.
Scott fights the undead and also the mega-undead, with guns and knives and bare hands.
He’s flanked by a badass crew who all resemble downloadableCall of Dutytattoos.
This is a maelstrom movie, veering without control between violent snark and sappy feels.
Somehow, Bautista’s weary eyes convey a quirky authenticity.
His broad-shouldered defensive posture yearns for human connection.
Scott’s a veteran of a violent outbreak that left walking corpses in charge of a walled-off Sin CIty.
He needs a crew to walk through the deathtropolis and heist the impossible safe.
Time is running out.
The government drops a nuclear bomb on Vegas in four days.
Scott’s prize will be a fortune well earned.
“Try not to get nuked or murdered by the undead!”
Deadhas fun assembling its army.
Raul Castillo comes on strong as Mikey Guzman, who posts his zombie kills on social media.
Omari Hardwick plays somber Vanderohe, a chainsaw philosopher with thoughts about Joseph Campbell.
Maria (Ana de la Reguera) is a trusty lieutenant.
The pilot, Peters (Tig Notaro), never stops talking.
It’s been 17 years since director Zack Snyder remadeDawn of the Deadwith maximum adrenaline and lighthearted wit.
InArmy, the adrenaline’s more maximum.
The wit has gotten heavy enough to crush brains.
The dialogue lands somewhere between hardcore bullet fetishism and perpetual irony.
Everyone is their own comic relief, and everyone loves their artillery.
“Don’t ever touchheragain,” Vanderohe says when another man touches his skull-buzzing saw.
It’s a Zack Snyder movie.
People wanna f— metal.
Snyder does his own cinematography, and his perpetual close-ups could be the camera hugging the actors.
Garret Dillahunt plays a character who is obviously up to no good.
People keep telling him they know he’s up to no good.
Surprise: He’s no good!
A rough situation, I know, but you always spot the fuzz around Notaro.
It’s possible nobody makingArmynoticed how distracting it is, because the whole movie already depends on digital futzing.
Snyder has a compulsion toward indulgent overload I admire.
(The first scene has an orgasm that is also an explosion.)
But CGI wrecks that instinct.
That zombie tiger doesn’t even belong in video game, because games have better graphics.
And this genre is so overexposed that Dillahunt actually just got done killing zombies inFear the Walking Dead.
The Vegas setting doesn’t freshen enough familiar tropes.
Weren’t we already on the Strip threeResident Evils ago?
All of which makesArmy’s imaginative flourishes welcome.
As featured creatures, these Alphas are grotesque and brazenly campy.
I love Notaro’s immortal reaction: “Was that a zombie in a goddamn cape?”
The royal monsters are distinctive characters, with a palpable chemistry and a secret that shocked me.
Their scenes are scary, and when’s the last time zombies scared you?
This is already a franchise property, with upcoming prequels and an inevitable teaser ending.
The Alphas are exciting, even when the final act turns their villainy generic.
And Bautista’s presence smooths the rough patches.
Nothing beats hearing him describe the food truck he wants to open.
He’ll serve “artisan grilled cheese sandwiches,” or maybe “tofu cheesecake.
“Army of the Deadgrills its cheese to a crisp, but Bautista adds some healthy flavor.
His headshots never miss your heart.Grade: B-
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