nick’s review published on Letterboxd:
Overall Army of the Dead is a mixed bag with slightly more merits than annoyances. With a storyline uncannily similar to the equally underwhelming Train to Busan 2, Army of the Dead is unfortunately hampered by its abundant cliches and overstretched runtime, but it's Zack Synder, so you know it's always worth it.
One thing Army of the Dead is not in short supply is actions, although it does take a large chunk of runtime allocated for mind-numbing character building for us to get to the point, and that's when Synder shows his magic touch to blend mainstream big budget and dazzling arthouse tendencies into a perfectly orchestrated symphony. Blood, gore and intensity are provided galore in the claustrophobic yet ultra familiar setting of a zombie-infested Vegas. The large ensemble was quite likeable, with the bromance between Matthias Schweighöfer and Omari Hardwick being my favorite takeaway.
Army of the Dead is for sure not a typical zombie action movie, both in terms of its stylish choices, as well as the unusual settings of the specific creature, whose hyper intelligence and vampire-ish mannerism in some way do take away the traditional scare factors such genre usually promises. Overall, however, Army of the Dead is still a decent if exhausting watch thanks to both its style and brainless fun. Is it an instant classic like Dawn of the Dead? Most certainly not.
