Zack Snyder and Netflix's new zombie thriller, Both Snyder films are set to release this year.
Army of the Dead, starring former WWE star David Bautista, follows a group of mercenaries as they attempt to rob a casino in a Las Vegas overrun by zombies. The trailer released last week shows him leaning into the neon absurdities of Vegas, most memorably with zombified bachelorette parties and Elvis impersonators. The movie is a sort of return to Snyder's roots as his 2004 Hollywood debut was a remake of George A Romero's Dawn of the Dead, which inspired heady praise, especially for the action, and made many best horror films of the decade lists. Army of the Dead, which combines the thrill of a heist movie with the action of a zombie movie looks impressive too from its first trailer.
As a film-maker, Snyder has an immediately recognizable style, making it perfect for action genre films. Every movie he makes is visually interesting, and that stylization in his remake of Dawn of the Dead put him on the map. He thrives on spectacle, and Army of the Dead allows for him to tell a fun story full of social commentary without trying to reinvent a genre as he had to with his work in the DCEU.
Although his endeavor to make comic book movies into artistic statements is irable, the reactions have been divisive. It's clear that he knows the material and plays a lot of homage to famous stories like The Dark Knight Returns, but he's not a conventional director, which is precisely what he earns praise for. A possible source of the divisiveness he inspires is that he's adapting characters to fit his aesthetic and artistic sensibilities instead of the other way around. Many of his heroes are morally ambiguous, and he doesn't shy away from violence and Snyder spoke openly at the time of making Watchmen about wanting to make challenging comic book movies that railed against conventions and expectations. For some, Snyder's darker style creates a dissonance with characters that are traditionally friendly paragons of virtue like Superman. A zombie heist movie allows him to play to his strengths without needing to reinvent the genre or characters.
Army of the Dead appears to be a movie where Snyder decides to cut loose and have fun without the pressure of making a profound comment on the nature of superheroes. It's the kind of film that plays to his strengths, with morally ambiguous characters, plenty of room for stylized action, and lots of gore. The feeling of fun is palpable, and the confidence in the footage shown so far speaks of a film-maker at home and confident in the genre strokes he's making.
