Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead has finally hit Netflix and is shaping up to be a winner. Critics are appreciating its balls-to-the-wall action, with even many former Snyder haters admitting that the ever-controversial director is on something of a hot streak. After the tangled behind-the-scenes drama of Justice League, Army of the Dead is a return to the action/horror fundamentals he first demonstrated in 2004’s Dawn of the Dead, centring on Dave Bautista’s rough and tumble gang venturing into an undead-infested Las Vegas to retrieve the contents of a safe before the city is nuked.
The movie is currently sitting at 73% on the Tomatometer, with reviews describing it as “expertly paced and with top-notch special effects,” “blockbuster-sized entertainment from a filmmaker firing on all creative cylinders” and “bizarre and occasionally brilliant.” But the professional opinions are only one side of the coin and Zack Snyder fans are all too aware that it’s the audience reaction that matters most.
Fortunately, those that have seen it are singing its praises to the heavens, and here’s just a sample of how it’s going down with Netflix users:
https://twitter.com/HailMother/status/1395637644772655104?s=20
https://twitter.com/thediepster/status/1395658244505280514?s=20
Curled up on the couch with my beloved @RatzFdot to watch ARMY OF THE DEAD, and I gotta say, we're about thirty minutes in and I'm in love, especially with Tig Notaro. Holy shit, but she's amazing. Dave Bautista, too. The rest of the cast are no slouches either, but Tig? #wow
— Webberly Rattenkraft (事實老鼠) (@TheFactRat) May 21, 2021
The acting ensemble in Army of the Dead is great, but Richard Cetrone and Athena Perample deserve special acknowledgement for their work, which is off-the-charts insane in the best possible way
— Kevin (@defnotkevin) May 21, 2021
Army of the Dead was awesome. Probably my new favorite zombie movie. A good time from start to finish.
— Kris is Done (@Kariodude) May 18, 2021
https://twitter.com/modrhyth/status/1395190764817289216?s=20
Holy shit!!! Army of the Dead was so good!!! I’m not a big Snyder fanboy but this was one of the most entertaining zombie flicks I’ve ever seen.
— Daniel (@bdanielcole) May 18, 2021
"Army of the Dead": This zombie flick by Snyder is a blast. Alternates between drama and comedy with gore and horror throughout.
As with my favorite zombie flick, the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, you know going into it that all the protagonists might die.
— honestly terry (@TerryMondry) May 19, 2021
Army of the Dead was awesome. Really great to get pure, unfettered Snyderkino in the form of a tense Ocean's 11 heist wrapped in an absurdly brutal and violent zombie outbreak story pic.twitter.com/hvu14Sva1Q
— Raymond Luxury Yacht (@rlyacht22) May 19, 2021
This might be crazy to believe but I'm pretty sure #ArmyOfTheDead had more blood and gore than #MortalKombat which is just crazy to me, the scenes in this film were simply insane. Anyways go see or stream Army of the Dead on Netflix when you get the chance because it was so good.
— MahvelBoah (@ThisIsHow1Win) May 17, 2021
The upshot of this is that Army of the Dead is likely to become one of the biggest Netflix originals to date and live up to the high expectations they had for it. This should mean that their upcoming mini-cinematic universe will begin to blossom. Prequel movie Army of Thieves has already wrapped shooting and is expected to air later this year, and anime-style series Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas is in production and will show the characters during the initial outbreak.
Whatever happens, I expect Netflix will soon offer Snyder a deal to make further originals for them and and I don’t think it’ll be too long until we start hearing whispers of Army of the Dead 2.