Army of the Dead (2021) * 1/2

Directed by:  Zack Snyder

Starring:  Dave Bautista, Ana de la Reguera, Omari Hardwick, Tig Notaro, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Ella Purnell

Despite Zack Snyder's attempts to instill dark humor into images of zombies' exploding heads and blood flying everywhere, Army of the Dead is thin in every way.   We hardly care about the characters, the heist they must pull off as they ward off deadly zombies, and we are forced to spend over two hours with them.  

Zombies themselves are boring villains.  I'm sure I've expressed this in previous reviews about zombie movies.   The occasional good zombie movies are populated with at least humor and living people we care about.   Army of the Dead's characters are mostly anti-hero types.   Would it kill anyone to give us straight-up heroes to root for instead of guys and gals who couldn't care less if we like them or not?   The anti-hero thing is beginning to play itself out.   You're either a good guy or a creep we would like to see blown away.  Pick one.   No one wants to commit to anything anymore.

The zombies in Army of the Dead are let loose after their transport from Area 51 is involved in a deadly accident near Las Vegas.   The zombies descend upon Sin City and some heroic (perish the thought) soldiers such as Scott Ward (Bautista) fight them off and keep them at least contained to the city limits.   The U.S. government builds a wall around Vegas (think Escape from New York) and the zombies are at least contained for the time being.

The plot thickens when a billionaire businessman (Sanada) enlists Scott and his band of recruits to rob a vault deep in the heart of one of the abandoned casinos.   The crew gets to keep most of the money if they are able to leave Vegas alive.   I honestly can't recall what the businessman stands to gain from the heist.  Whatever it was, it wasn't important enough for me to give a hoot.   Cue the zombies attacking in droves, cue the "heroes" blowing their heads off with their weapons, and blood splatters all over the place.

It's all so repetitive and boring.   Army of the Dead would only seem fresh to those who never saw a zombie movie before.   Bautista is an action star with depth and humor, but he needs someone to play.   He has worked with some top-flight directors and has gained valuable experience transitioning from the wrestling ring to Hollywood.   Let's get him some better material and see what he can really do.   Army of the Dead isn't it.