Army of the Dead by Zack Snyder Developing a heist story with the zombies around is one of the most thrilling concepts, to see how the main characters will try to get out from the territory filled with living dead, while they are proceeding with the robbery; some of these stories will end with the dead of the whole robbery group after they tried to get the money robbed, while others will end with the few surviving robbery group who will later on try to have a normal life without get in the trouble anymore. The visionary filmmaker Zack Snyder has written the story with this idea, after his first feature movie Dawn of the Dead came out, but for different reasons this idea was not going to be made; until he went in the production with Netflix, which gave him the opportunity to make the movie. After a long time of work, in 2021 came out Army of the Dead by Zack Snyder with Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tig Notari, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi, Garret Dillahunt and Richard Centrone. The movie's plot: A group of mercenaries have been given the opportunity to get a lot of money, by entering in Las Vegas which is now a quarantine zone filled with an army of the living dead, to commit their greatest heist in a casino. When the movie has been announced, several fans of the filmmaker Zack Snyder as well as the critics have been intrigued to see which direction his next feature movie will go; especially to see how the movie will be different than the previous ones directed by Zack Snyder, like how the settings of the story will be represented, how the development of the main characters will be processed and especially how the zombies will be represented, on the way they will act when they capture the victims in their path and how they will take actions. Indeed, the movie has been shown to be an entertaining movie filled with humor, dynamic rhythm and unexpected foolishness to be shown, especially to see there are different kinds of zombies in the story, like there are besides the classic living dead, there are also alpha zombies, who are the smartest and fastest zombie species and there are also zombie machines which can be recognized, once some them will get killed in some of the most thrilling moments of the story. At the same time the movie gives moments, on how the main characters will cooperate with each other, while they are proceeding with their heist, and how much they will interact with each other. As Zack Snyder is the director, co-producer, co-screenwriter and the director of photography of the movie, he has put so much energy for this passionate project, which make clear how the story will be told from the beginning to the end in every single camera movements and in every single angle shots; to see how some of the most essential aspects of the story will be shown in every single frames of story, as well as how the tone of the story will change from being dynamically thrilling, to become a story which shows some humor to be entertaining and finally to become even a story which has intimate moments between some characters. The production designer Julie Berghof has created settings which bonds with the movie's atmospheres as well as the movie's dynamism, filled with specific details of raw environment and destroyed materials which will let the audience feel the situation that the main characters are getting through; especially when they have been put in a dangerous environment, which is surrounded by death, to find something precious that lies in a casino. The costume designer Stephanie Porter has created costumes which fit with the shape and the colors of the main characters, especially to see how strong they are, both physically and psychologically, to face some of the most deadliest paths they are walking through, while they are searching to what they are looking for. The makeup department has created the prosthetic makeup of the zombies in a detailed way, on how their skin look and on how they express their emotions facially when they are interacting with each other, by letting the cast of the zombies to easily move physically to be expressive in their body language. The editor Dody Dorn has elaborated the narration's rhythm in a clear way of how the movie will be told from the beginning to the end, by balancing the story's atmospheres filled with thrilling moments, humorous moments and dramatic moments, without distorting the elements needed to be shown in the movie. The visual effects have been specifically elaborated to add furthermore details, needed to create the environment, where the main characters are getting through, in a much hostile way as well as dirtier way to let the audience feel the tension of some of the most thrilling moments, filled with a nonstop dynamic rhythm. The score by Tom Holkenborg has been elaborated, with musical notes which balance the movie's atmospheres, especially when some tracks of the score starts from being thrilling with dynamic rhythm, to change with much dramatic score tracks to let the audience feel the emotions of the main characters. Dave Bautista did an excellent performance as Scott Ward, a mercenary who has a dramatic dark past and once he will get asked to get the opportunity, to earn a lot of money by committing the biggest heist, he will do whatever is necessary to do the right job. Ella Purnell did a well done performance as Kate Ward, the daughter of Scott Ward who will join with the mercenary group to see where her friend Geeta is, once she is in the quarantine zone with the group she will be much closer to her father. Omari Hardwick did a well done performance as Vanderohe, a mercenary who is one of the former Scott Ward's teammates and he will do anything to make sure the job will be done as quickly as possible, to make it look professionally. Ana de la Reguera did an excellent performance as Maria Cruz, a mercenary who was also one of the former Scott Ward's teammates, she will do whatever it takes to accomplish the heist, even she takes part of the group to accomplish the robbery, she also came for a very specific reason to be personal. Theo Rossi did a well done performance as Burt Cummings, an abusive camp security guard who participates in the group, until something horrifying happens to him, as things will change to him in an unexpected way, while the rest of the group moved forward with the robbery. Matthias Schweighöfer did an excellent performance as Ludwig Dieter, a safecracker who initially does not know how to fight against the zombies, until the more he will move forward with the group, the more he knows how to defend himself. Nora Arnezeder did an excellent performance as Lilly, a smuggler who will help the group to enter the quarantine zone, as she will do anything to make sure no one is going to be put in danger, even when some consequences will inevitably happen. Hiroyuki Sanada did a well done performance as Bly Tanaka, the owner of the casino who will be the one to offer on Scott Ward's team to commit their biggest heist, even later on the team will understand which is the reason he brought them to the danger. Tig Notari did an excellent performance as Marianne Peters, the helicopter pilot who will do anything to what is right with the plan and once the heist has been accomplish, she will make sure to bring the team back home. Raúl Castillo did an excellent performance as Mikey Guzman, an energetic sharpshooter who will be ready to intervene, no matter how the situation might get more or less dangerous. Huma Qureshi did an excellent performance as Geeta, the friend of Kate Ward and a mother, who will do anything to make sure her children are going to get a better future. Garret Dillahunt did a well done performance as Martin, the one who will help to get access to the casino, even later on it will become clear the reason he has been put in the team. Richard Centrone did an excellent performance as Zeus, the alpha leader of the intelligent zombies who will be ready to attack anyone that dares to interfere in the quarantine zone, especially when something happens to the female Alpha known as the Queen. Army of the Dead is one of the most energetically entertaining movies ever made, which is filled with thrilling moments, humorous moments and dramatic moments, with a nonstop dynamic rhythm.