There have been some epic zombie movies since George Romero shot Night of the Living Dead in 1968.  This one aims to be truly epic, taking almost two-and-a-half hours to tell its heist story — and yet I find it overblown and absurdly grotesque.  Absurd it is: Las Vegas is infected within hours of a ridiculous accident out in the desert, and the army solves the problem by isolating the city with a wall of cargo containers?  Really?  In the movie zombies are seen to climb on cars and other structures; would they really be contained by a wall the height of three cargo containers? I think not.

Zach Snyder’s film informs us that infected Las Vegas is due to be incinerated by a nuclear blast.  Before that happens, a team is assembled to go in, find a vault full of money and get it safely out.  Of course, complications and secret agendas are ready to unfold, especially when the brave souls learn that the zombies have a distinct hierarchy, with an alpha leader who is planning a revolution of his own.  But the humans, led by big and brawny Dave Bautista, have the edge, don’t they?

Horror fans are bound to worship a project with the scope and detail of this, not to mention the violence.  Hundreds of zombies, and a few of the humans, are dispatched with alacrity and blood spurts with monotonous effect.  One person’s neck is twisted completely around, dislodging their spine.  One particular zombie is beheaded and then its head is carried around in a bag.  There is a zombie horse, and a zombie tiger.  Be warned; this movie ain’t pretty.

Suspense is generated, especially in scenes where the zombies are still dormant and the humans need to sneak past quietly.  But most of this movie is loud and obnoxious.  Some of it is satirical; there seem to be plenty of in-jokes regarding previous zombie movies and Bible stories.  But two-and-a-half hours of this is tough to take.  I prefer the relative simplicity of Return of the Living Dead; now, that’s a genuine classic.  ☆ ☆.  30 September 2021.