5 Reasons Zack Snyder’s ARMY OF THE DEAD Makes Las Vegas A Better Place

Released on May 21st, 2021, ARMY OF THE DEAD is a compelling documentary about the leeches that live in Vegas — sorry, hang on, it’s not a documentary? Darn. I guess some things really are too good to be true...

When undead crawl along the strip, you really don’t see much of a difference between the Before and After of the City of Sin. But at least in ARMY OF THE DEAD, there are five marked improvements!

1) The city is actually quarantined!

Finally, the city HAS to follow quarantine protocol!

Sure, in real life, the casinos did shut down, to begin with, but all re-opened with limited capacity by June 2020, a.k.a. way too early.

Marshall Allen with ProPublica pointed out, in August 2020, that Nevada did not implement stay-at-home orders when it should’ve and largely let the casinos handle their own response and safety protocol.

"The cellphone data analysis shows how travel to Las Vegas could be fueling the pandemic... It’s almost certain, the experts said, that casinos are a feeding ground for COVID-19."

Quarantining the city off with a bunch of shipment crates would've been a way better response.

Way to show them how it’s done, Zack Snyder.

2) People finally see the city for what it is.

In the sadly fictitious world of ARMY OF THE DEAD, no one falls for the "lights" and "fountains" and the "but the food is great" bullsh!t of Las Vegas PR anymore. People only enter the city for one thing: money.

A chance for the money they hope will change their lives.

But they also know, as reasonable human beings, that they’re far more likely to get their limbs ripped off by those gambling debts — I mean, zombies — than actually get that coveted payoff by the end.

The House always wins, after all!

3) Bad cops get their comeuppance.

Maybe don't get me started on how awful cops are in Las Vegas (not yet anyway)... Let’s just talk about what happens when cops are bad.

Because in Vegas — zilch.

Much like in the rest of the country… (excluding, of course, that one example when the cop's "misconduct" [translation: that brutal murder he committed] was recorded and seen worldwide).

But in ARMY OF THE DEAD, Theo Rossi plays the quintessential d!ckhead cop. Sure, some might say he’s an over-the-top archetype of a sexist megalomaniac, but I find him pretty accurate to my own experience with Las Vegas Metro Police — tying women up, merely because they can.

(LVMPD does it under the guise of "trespass" charges.)

Basically, he gets what’s coming to him. Big time.

...Should’ve been the big clue that this wasn’t a documentary, now that I think about it, but oh well. Still enjoyable to watch, for once, even if fictional.

4) Violence against women matters.

Women actually get respect in the city now, especially The Queen.

Sure, she’s gotta be undead, but she is running sh!t behind the scenes. All while pregnant too!

And when a womanizing security agent (Garret Dillahunt) disrespects the queen (a very nice way of putting what he does…), the whole undead army revolts against their truce and takes action.

Never before has the city of Las Vegas cared so much about violence against a woman…!

Sadly, the city has too much systemic misogyny to start giving a sh!t anytime soon.

5) Cat is King and womanizers are catfood.

The tiger might be undead, but even undead, she's still just a tiger! She acts like royalty and plays with her food... which is really satisfying when said food is a soulless, womanizing a$$hole. (The character, of course! I’m sure Garret Dillahunt, the man, is a great guy!*)

Any similarities to Tiger King are NOT accidental... (Yupp, the visual effects team spent time with Carole Baskin for their research)!

Tigers, undead or not, are just dang royalty.

And watching the kitty maul the Womanizer/Woman-Killer to death gives us all a brief belief in karmic justice again.

*Sidenote: I'm not being sarcastic, I really am sure Garret Dillahunt is a great guy... because Zack Snyder would’ve CGIed him out if he wasn’t!

**A bonus improvement: No platform goes to terrible people (alleged or otherwise).

I’m speaking of course to the fact that Chris D’Elia originally had this role but was edited out after accusations of sexual assault came to light.

Giving said platform to Tig Notaro is WAY better.

There you have it! 5 reasons, plus a bonus one, to enjoy ARMY OF THE DEAD even more!

Now, you may be wondering: Does this chick writing this thing just really hate Las Vegas...?

Ha! Ya think?

That’s just a minute from my own stand-up set about my last experience in Las Vegas… The set was live on Zoom, thanks to the pandemic. There’s a lot more to it too, so connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter if you want more.

Really, I just dare to dream of the city becoming a better place one day, which is why I say:

Watch ARMY OF THE DEAD on Netflix now! It helps us start to envision Las Vegas as a better place!

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