Army of the Dead (2021)
★½ — Army of the Dead (2021)
Zombie films have never been shy about using the undead as a backdrop for something else entirely, whether that's social commentary, survival drama, or, as is the case here, a full-blown heist thriller. Army of the Dead arrives in 2021 as a Netflix-backed production from The Stone Quarry, pitching itself somewhere between a Vegas caper and an apocalyptic horror picture. The premise is broad and, on paper, rather fun: a zombie outbreak has consumed Las Vegas, the city has been quarantined behind concrete walls, and a ragtag crew of mercenaries are offered a substantial payday to get in, crack a casino vault, and get out before the military levels the whole place. It is the kind of high-concept genre mash-up that either clicks into gear immediately or spends nearly two and a half hours trying to convince you it has.
Behind the camera is Zack Snyder, a director whose relationship with scale and spectacle has defined his career at every turn. Fans of his work will know his Dawn of the Dead (2004) remake, which earned him considerable goodwill in the horror community, and his earlier sword-and-sandals blockbuster 300 (2006) remains one of the more visually distinctive action films of that decade. Army of the Dead marks a return to zombie territory for Snyder, this time working from a screenplay he co-wrote himself (alongside Shay Hatten and Joby Harold), and with the considerable freedom that a Netflix production can afford. Snyder also served as his own cinematographer here, an unusual choice for a film of this size, lending the whole thing a particular visual signature: shallow depth of field, warm desert light, and a tendency towards slow-motion flourishes that his regular collaborators will recognise immediately.
Leading the ensemble is Dave Bautista, who plays the crew's point man and moral centre, a former mercenary drawn back into the fray for reasons that are partly financial and partly personal. Bautista has spent much of the past decade demonstrating that he is considerably more than a former wrestler in a superhero franchise (his run in the Guardians of the Galaxy series is well worth your time if you haven't already, and we covered Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 here too), and here he is clearly making an effort to anchor an unruly film with something resembling genuine feeling. Alongside him are Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, and Theo Rossi, forming a crew that the film asks you to invest in across a runtime that pushes well past the two-hour mark. Whether that investment pays off is, of course, the question.
Zack Snyder’s zombie heist flick starts with promise. Flashy visuals, a desert wasteland Vegas, and some slick zombie gore effects (which, honestly, are the only thing worth praising here). But everything else is a total write-off. The characters are one-note clichés with zero charm (ranging from grating to outright annoying) and the acting is stiff, wooden, or wildly over-the-top, with no middle ground. The story tries to juggle too much: a zombie outbreak, a casino heist, family drama, and a mysterious zombie queen, all while throwing in random subplots that go nowhere. It doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t build tension properly, and the pacing is all over the place. At nearly two and a half hours, it feels even longer, dragging through dull emotional attempts that don’t land and action scenes that look cool but lack stakes. Even the humour falls flat, landing somewhere between cringey and mean-spirited. You’re never really rooting for anyone, and the film never decides if it wants to be serious, campy, or epic. The zombie effects are impressive (fast, detailed, and creatively gross) but they can’t save a film this hollow. Barely holding on for the make-up work.
And honestly, the zombie make-up and effects work is where I kept finding myself returning mentally, even after the credits rolled, because there is genuine craft buried in this film, just not nearly enough of it, and not in the right places. A heist film lives or dies on tension and character, and when both are as thin as they are here, no amount of stylish slow-motion carnage can fill the gap. I have sat through plenty of overlong action pictures that at least kept me entertained scene to scene, but this one tests the patience in ways that feel less like ambition and more like a lack of discipline in the edit. If you are curious about Snyder's zombie work, his earlier effort is the far better use of your evening. This one is best remembered for its prosthetics budget.
Rating: ★½ | Year: 2021 | Watched: 2025-09-01
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Army of the Dead (2021) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Zack Snyder: 300 (2006) · Dawn of the Dead (2004)
More with Dave Bautista: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) · Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) · Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
More from the 2020s: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · The Long Walk (2025) · Americana (2023)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
