When people think of Las Vegas, they think of table games, slots, and all sorts of casino games. Most movies shot in the Las Vegas scene feature casino heists and big payouts.
And how could they not? After all, the thriving casinos in Vegas set the pace for the live online casino sites worldwide.
They influenced the twists in classic games and continue to do so – Vegas is the casino epicenter. So, for a movie set in this city to veer from casinos, people were curious about what it would entail.
Breaking Down Army of the Dead
Everyone loves a zombie apocalypse. Some people secretly wish they could be part of one and watch movies and series with such timelines to live out this fantasy vicariously. So, does this movie deliver?
It starts with the usual suspension. An accident occurs outside Las Vegas involving a US millitary car which happens to have a zombie. How great!
The zombie, of course, escapes into the city after infecting a few soldiers. And like zombie apocalypses go, the infected infect others.
What starts as a few infections soon becomes a crisis as the government tries to shut down the situation. Unfortunately, even the military does not have what it takes to contain the situation.
And the government has no choice but to quarantine the city for years. The city that once was the hub of hustle and bustle remains a shell of its previous era.
The government soon decides that deploying a nuclear strike is the best way to deal with the situation. And in just one swift move, Vegas will be gone, and so will the zombies.
But here is where it gets interesting. Vegas, the casino hub it is, still houses a lot of cash that belongs to casino operators.
They are not about to watch that cash go up in flames. One such operator (Bly Tanaka) decides to get ahead of the situation by hiring Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) to recover his money before the strike.
Ward, a mercenary, agrees to the task. After all, with a job to recover $200 million, his share should be good enough to set him up for good. So, he gets his former partners to join him on the expedition.
It’s a good team, comprising a pilot, safecracker, and sharpshooter. Tanaka’s associate joins the team to give them access to the casino. And after a few strategy sessions, the team sets off to Vegas.
Unbeknownst to Ward, his daughter also joins the team. A series of deadly situations follows where Ward must fight to keep his daughter safe and his team alive.
And doing this in a world where even tigers have become zombified is easier said than done.
Does He Succeed?
The movie features many interesting scenes that center on betrayal and greed. Cummings, a camp security guard, is the first to face the wrath of his teammates.
Upon entering Vegas, one of his teammates wounds him and offers him as a sacrifice to the zombies in exchange for a safe passage.
The team thus makes it through a building with zombies where Ward sets the pace using glow sticks. Along the way, one of the teammates suspects that Tanaka’s associate (Martin) is with them for the wrong reasons.
Afraid that the teammate might expose him, Martin pushes her to the zombies which bite her. The team has no option but to kill her and the zombies in the vicinity.
Once the team makes it to the casino, the following curveballs happen:
- Martin and Lilly (a smuggler) trap the Queen and Martin kills her.
- A zombie finds the body and returns it to the zombies that guaranteed the team a safe passage.
- The zombies, on learning that the queen was pregnant, become agitated with the team. And the zombies set out to the casino.
At the same time, the government launches the nuclear strike, giving the team only 90 minutes to leave the casino or be blown to bits.
While the team should be finding a way out, confusion reigns as Ward’s daughter sets out to find her friend. The teammates who go after her end up being zombie fodder.
Martin, who took the Queen’s head, abandons the team by locking them in the vault. His idea is to use the head as collateral which Tanaka can give the government to create a zombie team.
It was never about the money! But luck is not on his side as Lilly betrays him and steals the head, leaving Martin to die in the hands of the zombies.
All hell breaks loose as the zombies find the team, wounding several of them at once. Even if Ward manages to get into the helicopter, one wrong shot sends the pilot spinning and their escape mission fails.
He eventually gets bit by a zombie and as he turns, he gives his daughter money to start a new life. In a teary end, she has no option but to kill her father to save him from a doomed life.
What Next For Army of the Dead?
Fans can expect a sequel in 2023 which will build on the original film.
And with Army of the Dead: Lost Vegasanimating the apocalypse, it is win after win for zombie apocalypse fans!
