Army of the Dead's reviews might be more positive than Army of Thieves' early reactions, but on this occasion an excessive runtime certainly isn't a stumbling block.
The exposition is brisk and character moments squeeze between the bank robberies and slick action sequences, making full use of the 2 hours Netflix has allocated. Army of Thieves then escalates through the Rheingold, Valkyrie and Siegfried jobs at pace before coursing straight toward the finale. Matthias Schweighöfer doesn't dawdle with Dieter's backstory before introducing Nathalie Emmanuel's Gwendoline and kicking off the safe-cracking fun. Though it's hardly the slimmest heist put to film, Army of Thieves deftly avoids the same problems.
And, of course, there were plenty of "Snyder cut" gags too, as some pondered whether a zombie movie really required one of the director's famous bumper editions ( Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake ran a full 48 minutes shorter, incidentally). Army of the Dead was accused of taking too long to gather momentum, then dragging in places as the crew explore Las Vegas. Even without eyeing the clock, it's a difference that can be felt while watching.
With 3 safes to crack instead of just the one, Army of Thieves arguably had more license to go long than Army of the Dead, but the spinoff keeps things tight by shaving off almost 30 minutes from the original movie's runtime. Related: Every Army of the Dead Character Cameo In Army Of ThievesĪrmy of Thieves weighs in considerably lighter, just north of 2 hours.
Few went so far as to accuse Army of the Dead of filler or padding, but most agreed the pace could've moved more urgently. Clocking in just shy of the 2 hour 30 minute mark, even critics who enjoyed Snyder's zombie comeback broadly felt Army of the Dead outstayed its welcome. But positive or not, many Army of the Dead reviews hit upon the same recurring criticism - it was spectacularly long. First to broaden the Army of the Dead franchise is Army of Thieves - a Dieter-centric prequel that leans fully into the heist genre, going light on the zombie dressing.Īrmy of the Dead and Army of Thieves both landed on Netflix to mixed reviews, though the former skewed more toward the positive, and it's still early days for Dieter's spinoff. Between the undead thrills and casino heist spills, Snyder laid the groundwork for a far more expansive universe, teasing aliens, time travel, spinoffs, sequels, and more. Returning to the genre for the first time since 2004's Dawn of the Deadand handed full creative control by Netflix, Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead was much more than a regular zombie movie.