Zack Snyder discusses how he blended zombie and heist genres in Netflix film Army of the Dead

“Shot the movie before the pandemic. But the catch-all for zombie movies is still the same: in the end, humans are worse than zombies.” Snyder said he set up _Army of the Dead i_n Las Vegas as he wanted to do a “social commentary” on casino culture, something that Romero did with shopping malls in his original Dawn of the Dead movie. “And I think that as George did with shopping malls and mass consumerism in Dawn of the Dead, I think Vegas does a similar job with the way we approach the world of casinos and gambling and things like that.” The filmmaker said he had developed the story for Army of the Dead years ago but couldn’t make it into a movie for the longest time. “And just having the relationship I have with my children and being a dad… that part of the movie really became a lot more important to me than maybe it was 15 years ago.” He added: “Dave’s character is trying to reconnect with his daughter… yes it’s a zombie heist movie, but really in the end it’s a character movie in a lot of ways.” Many viewers would find an eerie similarity between the film and the current reality, where people have to quarantine and take adequate precautions owing to the coronavirus pandemic. But for all its brash, high-octane fun, the movie — a homage to genre films like Escape from New York and Aliens, and heist movies such as Ocean’s Eleven-- carries genuine emotional heft for Snyder.