Army Of The Dead Review: Zack Snyder Goes All Out In Zombie Heist Thriller

Army of the Dead (R21)

Starring Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana De La Reguera, Omari Hardwick,

Directed by Zack Snyder

Following his falling out (subsequent entente?) with Warner Bros over Justice League, Zack Snyder defected over to Netflix where he was given carte blanche to make his comeback — the return to the zombie genre 17 years after his Dawn of the Dead remake. The resulting mojo-recharger: a Vegas-set heist flick not unlike last year’s Train to Busan: Peninsula: it entails an Escape from New York-ish set-up (Dave Bautista leads a motley crew;Tig Notaro and Matthias Schweighöfer deserve special mention for providing levity — into an infected Sin City to recover US$200 million from a casino vault); plenty of ghastly imagery (an effing zombie tiger!); and a focus on carnage-fuelled mayhem (the s*** hits the fan and pretty much everywhere else in the third act). The difference? Snyder’s is pumped on anabolic steroids. Army it isn’t as pacy and tight as Dawn, but it still rocks for its sheer cinematic verve (best witnessed on the biggest possible screen). Snyder had a lot of pent-up energy and obviously had a blast exercising his newfound freedom (as will fans looking out for Easter eggs and pop culture references), but as the movie progresses, it also becomes clear that his idea of fun isn’t always the same as ours. (3/5 stars) on Netflix 

Photo: Netflix

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The Empty Man (M18)

Dropped (more like abandoned, actually) in cinemas last October amid the pandemic with zero fanfare, and worse, erroneously marketed as a run-of-the-mill bogeyman flick, The Empty Man is a hidden gem that deserves better. Writer-director David Prior’s assured debut starts with an unsettling 20-minute (!) Bhutan-set prologue before relocating to Small Town, USA, where James Badge Dale’s downtrodden ex-cop James Lasombra (the name itself is a clue) traces a teenager's disappearance to a sinister cult. What follows is a beguilingly slow-burning trip down the rabbit hole that mixes the detective noir of Angel Heart and the out-of-this-world creepiness of Midsommer. (4/5 stars) on Disney+.

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos

Let Them All Talk (NC16)

Starring Meryl Streep, Dianne West, Candice Bergen, Gemma Chan, Lucas Hedges

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Ever experimenting, Steven Soderbergh’s latest is a Woody Allen (ish) ensemble piece, with Meryl Streep as a troubled novelist who invites her pals (Dianne West and Candice Bergen) and nephew (Lucas Hedges) on a cruise trip to England. On board too is Gemma Chan as the scribe’s literary agent. (Soderbergh did something Allen is not known for: cast Asians.) The poignant, low-key drama unfolds in a cinéma vérité way that makes you feel like you’re on the ship as well, eavesdropping on the characters as they, er, talk (some scripted, some improvised) about grudges, regrets and life’s other missed opportunities. (3.5/5 stars) on HBO Go

Photo: HBO Go