Army of the Dead (2021) – Heist Hard. Die Faster.

⭐ Rating: 7/10
Army of the Dead is Zack Snyder unleashed — a full-throttle genre mashup that fuses zombie apocalypse with high-stakes heist, all soaked in neon blood and slow-motion bravado. It’s messy, chaotic, occasionally profound, but always entertaining.

Set in a sealed-off Las Vegas, now a zombie quarantine zone after a catastrophic outbreak, the film follows Scott Ward (Dave Bautista), a battle-scarred everyman recruited to pull off the impossible: sneak into the undead city, crack a casino vault, and escape with $200 million — before the government nukes the entire place.

Ward assembles a colorful crew of specialists: a chainsaw-wielding bruiser, a German safecracker with a fear of violence, a stoic sniper, and a rogue helicopter pilot played by Tig Notaro (digitally inserted post-production with surprising fluidity). The team dynamics are fun, if thinly drawn, with plenty of banter and tension fueling the ticking-clock narrative.

But this isn’t your average zombie flick. Snyder introduces “alpha zombies” — fast, intelligent, and tribal, led by a zombie king and queen who display both rage and… eerie affection. It’s a risky twist that pays off in creepiness and unpredictability, even if it’s never fully explored. There’s even a flash of sci-fi, hinting at robot zombies and time loops, teasing a mythology that begs for sequels.

Visually, the film is pure Snyder: saturated colors, stylized gore, and sweeping camera moves that both dazzle and disorient. The action is slick and brutal — a casino shootout with glow-in-the-dark zombies is a standout — but Snyder also takes time for moments of pathos, especially in Ward’s strained relationship with his estranged daughter, Kate.

Still, Army of the Dead isn’t without flaws. The pacing drags in the second act, emotional beats sometimes clash with the tone, and some characters feel expendable in ways that undermine their arcs. The film’s ambition occasionally exceeds its execution, juggling more themes and subplots than it can resolve.

But when it works, it really works — especially as a popcorn spectacle. It’s bold, bloody, and unafraid to color outside the genre lines. Whether you come for the zombies, the heist, or Snyder’s signature chaos, Army of the Dead delivers a ride that’s as unpredictable as it is explosive.

💀 Verdict: A stylish zombie epic that bites off more than it can chew — but chews with flair.
Zack Snyder doesn’t just raise the dead. He lets them dance through a casino before everything explodes.

Watch Movie