Army of the Dead, Zack Snyder's upcoming Netflix zombie heist movie, features a group of expert zombie killers who are better than those that appeared in his Dawn of the Dead. Snyder returns to his roots for the movie, after making his feature directorial debut with Dawn of the Dead in 2004, which proved to be a satisfying remake of the George A. Romero classic (and featured a script from fellow future superhero movie director James Gunn). The movie established Snyder's trademark visual style, and set him up as a director folks either love or hate.
After making 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, and then spending the better part of the past decade working in the DC Extended Universe, Snyder is tackling another gory, R-rated zombie extravaganza. Set for release on May 21, Snyder calls Army of the Dead a personal movie not made by committee, a not-so-subtle dig at the studio heads at Warner Bros., whom he clashed with on numerous occasions while making Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League. But for those who are worried Snyder is just revisiting old ground with Army of the Dead, the director has pointed out how different the approach to the two movies is.
Speaking to Empire, Snyder says in Army of the Dead the team he's assembled are "expert" at killing zombies, contrasting them with the characters in Dawn of the Dead, who were "making it up as they went along." He also spoke about how fun it was to design a world where the characters are happily wading through a "sea of the dead." Snyder also shared a new image from Army of the Dead, showing off Omari Hardwick's character Vanderohe carrying a giant saw he uses to cut through the legions of undead. You can read Snyder's comments below, and see the new image below that:
These guys are just a little bit better at killing zombies than my team in Dawn was. They were making it up as they went along. Whereas in this movie, we arrived at expert zombie killers. It’s incredibly fun to look at and design a world where this handful of amazingly gifted zombie killers are happy to ply their trade in a literal sea of the dead. It’s a rescue saw. You could basically cut a car door off with it if you had to, or cut a hole in a wall to get away. But you could also kill a zombie. And that’s gonna happen, right?
Synder's comments tie in with the action-driven approach of the images and footage seen so far. It's clear Army of the Dead is far more of an action movie than a traditional horror, which suits the director's style perfectly. In fact, almost everything about the movie seems to be Snyder returning to his action roots, unencumbered by his mythological approach to the superhero movies he was making in the 2010s.
That, combined with Army of the Dead's bright version of his trademark visual style, hints that this movie could be the most fun the director has made in a long time. And that can only be a good thing, as the premise of a zombie heist film almost demands a fun and explosive approach. Audiences will find out just how fun Army of the Dead is in a couple of months.
Source: Empire
