The Dead Shall Seek Vengeance! - Renegade Marquee #2
On the blood-splattered sophomore edition of the Renegade Marquee, our movie review podcast, Mike, Keona, Jacob, and special guest host Gwen take a critical look at Taylor Sheridan’s Those Who Wish Me Dead and Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead. Hm… Do I sense a theme here? Let’s get it on, fellow Deadites!
The Captain: Out of all of Sheridan's films that I've seen, I can say for certain that this is his weakest. I'm wondering if part of the reason is because he's adapting someone else's material, and there's only so much room for him to add his own flavor. That being said, the reason I enjoyed it as much as I did is because the performances were top notch across the board, with Angelina Jolie and Finn Little especially standing out amongst this impressive ensemble cast. Now, on the one hand, the stuff that doesn't work is everything involving the two human antagonists, a pair of assassins(?) played by Nicholas Hoult and Aiden Gillen. But much like the similarly trashy thriller Serenity (2019), it's the REAL antagonist that makes their involvement circle back to being great. One thing about this film that remains consistent throughout Sheridan's filmography is his depiction of that rustic Americana. These characters and their geography feel authentic, at least before shit really hits the fan. I can comfortably recommend this one for fans of both Angelina Jolie and Taylor Sheridan, even if it never quite reaches the levels of Sicario, Hell of High Water or Wind River.
Lara Croft meets Frank Castle.
Neoplasmic: I gotta agree with the Captain here and say that this is easily Sheridan’s weakest directorial effort, and the script barely edges out the tragically boring Without Remorse. While I still consider myself a fan of Sheridan’s work, I feel like a lot of his writing is one-note. On the other hand, the man knows how to stage an action sequence, and I appreciate how deftly he handles on-screen violence. I wish the plot gave us a bit more context as to why Tyler Perry’s two inept thugs (Gillen and Hoult) went after Connor and killed his father, and I do think some of the editing was distractingly abrupt, but overall, the main plot is decent. Angelina Jolie and her young co-star, Finn Little, definitely play off of each other well, and the forest fire that bears down on all the characters (good and evil) is a cool effect and a fantastic premise that adds a lot of tension to the characters’ assorted plights. In the end, while I didn’t love it, TWWMD is at least worth a watch. Perhaps you’ll enjoy it more than I did.
The Captain: What really stood out to me about this film is the way Snyder somehow finds a balance between the grand scope of surviving in a zombie apocalypse, and the more intimate interpersonal relationships. For example, I have a hunch that more development was poured into the relationship between Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) and his daughter Kate's (Ella Purnell) relationship as the emotional anchor since the Autumn's passing. Those were some of the best scenes in the film, and Bautista brings his absolute A-game in his first leading role. The rest of the ensemble is awesome, and everyone from Matthias Schweighöfer's Ludwig Dieter to Tig Notaro's Marianne Peters gets their moment to shine! On the technical side of things, Snyder acting as his own cinematographer brings out that intimacy I mentioned earlier, plus he gets to stage some of the coolest zombie fights I've seen from an American filmmaker. Is the film a little too long? Maybe, but as Roger Ebert once said, "no good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough."
Majestic.
Neoplasmic: I’m always of two minds when it comes to Zack Snyder’s films. I’ve never dealt with a filmmaker’s body of work where my enjoyment level is so based upon my current mood while I’m watching his films. For instance, when I first saw Army of the Dead, I was tired, emotionally drained, and just having a bad day. Therefore, I loathed it. Didn’t laugh once at the jokes, didn’t find any kind of strange catharsis in the gruesome ultraviolent zombie kills. I felt entirely apathetic and numb. Then I rewatched the film the following day, after getting rest and cooling off a bit, and I liked it a helluva lot more. Even the lousy cover of “Bad Moon Rising” didn’t get on my nerves as much the second time around! All kidding aside, this is a really cool take on the zombie genre, with a particular twist that we talk about in the podcast that really blew my mind and opens up a ton of possibilities for Snyder and co. to explore! The performances are fun, the gore flows like a really gross river, and there’s a fuckin’ zombie tiger. ‘Nuff said.
Somebody’s got a future doing suicide dives in AEW.
That’s our show, folks! Thank you for listening, as always, and extra special appreciation to Gwen for co-hosting with us yet again! Please don’t hesitate to add your thoughts on Those Who Wish Me Dead and Army of the Dead in the comments below! And don’t forget to rate and review us on Podchaser, and be sure to subscribe to our show on Anchor, Spotify, Apple, and anywhere you find awesome podcasts! ‘Till next time, Renegades, be safe!
Welcome to the first episode of the rebranded Renegade Home Theater, now known as the Renegade Marquee, our movie podcast! This time, Jacob and Keona check out Amazon’s latest production, Without Remorse, an action/thriller based on Tom Clancy’s novel and starring Michael B. Jordan! Does it live up to the Clancy adaptation pedigree set by films like The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger? Let’s find out!