Army of the Dead (2021) - Already Zombies!

 

★★☆☆☆

When I first listened to The Cranberries' 'Zombie', it was simply a very catchy piece of rock ballad to enjoy. But years later, when I was wise and understanding enough to care about the lyrics, turned out the term zombie has nothing to do with what you see in zombie films. It's blatantly a very emotional, wrathful, accusing anti-war song to remind us of the hopelessness and ludicrousness of wars! What am I bringing this up for? Well, 'Zombie' is the theme song of Zack Snyder's latest 'Army of the Dead' which is about, as you might've figured, zombies. A good match, right? Nope! The song's grieving and heavy but the film's not, at all! It's only a bit better than last year's Korean 'Peninsula', which appears to be nothing but a joke!

Like what happens in 'Peninsula', they're doing it for money, again! I don't know what makes them think they're actually so poor and desperate to have to risk their lives for money. I mean, what's the use of it when you lose your life? Anyways, that's the setup, a disappointing one in fact! There're only two kinds of zombie films to me. One is serious and emotionally striking like 'Train To Busan' and 'World War Z'. The other is like no-brainer cult just for fun. 'Army of the Dead' seems to want to be the former but it doesn't feel like it! At points, it tries to make you laugh but it doesn't work for me. Some sacrifices you see in there are actually head-scratching! The plot's predictable and thus carefree. The action though, is much more watchable than that in 'Peninsula' in terms of more realistic combats, sudden deaths, slow-mo fights, brutal violence, and less CGI. I don't know. Maybe there's a lot but they all seem so real! Lower your expectation even though this is a stylish Zack Snyder's film, take it a piece of Friday Night expendable action entertainment, take it easy, then, I guess, you'll probably be able to enjoy it instead!

Zombies are like brainless, emotionless beings. All they do is kill and eat, rest, and then kill and eat again. They kill because they're physically hungry, like all the other animals out there. We human kill too, but most of the time, it's not because we have to fill our stomach but because we want to see others suffer. While zombies kill to live, we kill to just enjoy ourselves, to get high, to feel superior in terms of power and control! We really are perverse and sick this way! In the eyes of Buddhas, we're already stupid zombies caught up in this rotting zombie-land of hellish sufferings and bloodbaths, and yet, we think we're so unique and smart!