*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“This should be a simple in and out…”

Army of the Dead is a horror action film that released on May 21st 2021 on Netflix. The film stars Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Tig Notaro, Omari Hardwick, and Garret Dillahunt. It runs for approximately two and a half hours.

The film takes place after a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas as a group of mercenaries go through zombie territory in order to pull off a heist with a lot of cash.

Here is the trailer:

Army of the Dead looks like it could be filled with a lot of gory zombie fun, but does its dragged out set-up get in the way of pure greatness? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Netflix

Fun dynamic between characters.

This movie had an Ocean’s Eleven vibe going on and I actually thought this worked in the movie’s favor because you cared more about what happened to the characters. Dave Bautista played the exact role I needed him to play and we also had some other stand-out performances as well. 

It was honestly really funny to see good guy Garret Dillahunt from Fear the Walking Dead play a complete jerk and I think that the comedy sprinkled throughout the film actually really helped. The film didn’t take itself too seriously and that was important because all I wanted was an action filled zombie flick and I think it delivered on that.

Lots of action.

If you came for lots of violence and action, you will not be disappointed. Once the film gets going, you will have plenty of that to go around. The Vegas setting worked in the film’s favor and the zombies were actually pretty formidable too, which prevented this film from feeling overdone and stale.

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Netflix

Way too long and issues with pacing.

My biggest con about this film is the length of it. I don’t want to watch a zombie action film for two and a half hours. I don’t really want to watch any film for that long, but I make exceptions here and there.

This movie should have been an hour and forty minutes and I think the dragged out length really hurt this film. We don’t even get any real gritty action until over an hour into the movie and that’s when the film takes off, but this film could easily lose an audience within the first hour.

While I loved the introduction to the gang of characters, we could have fast forwarded through a lot of the unnecessary fluff. The heart-to-heart talks and slow moving flashbacks were a little too much as well.

I think that if this film had broken away from that and just embraced its real identity, it would have been much better in my opinion.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Netflix

I’m in!

While I was on the fence about this movie during the first hour, things picked up once we got to the meaty part of the plot and the action, gore, and comedy really delivered for me. I thought this movie was a lot of fun. It wasn’t anything truly epic or outstanding, but it was thoroughly entertaining.

The movie was way too long, but luckily it made up for that in the second half. If you are looking for some zombie fun with a lot of action, you’re in the right place.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Army of the Dead in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

THIS COMPETITION IS KILLER…

When former friends, Shay and Adriana team up to participate in a Halloween scavenger hunt with a cash prize, they temporarily put their differences aside to outsmart their opponents. However, they soon start to realize that a dangerous threat is playing their own version of the game, stalking them during each hunt.

Winning is now a necessity as their lives are at stake. As old wounds and memories re-surface, Shay and Adriana attempt to unmask the threat before the night is over, but soon learn that Scream Hunt is not done with them just yet…

My new young adult horror thriller comes out October 7th 2021! I hope you enjoy!

Scream Hunt is available here!

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