When Polygon first spoke to
Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista about his role as sensitive widowed dad and action hero Scott Ward in Zack Snyder’s new Netflix movie
Army of the Dead, Bautista had just been cast in Rian Johnson’s
Knives Out 2, and he was still reeling a little about the way his career is taking off. “It’s a little bit surreal at the moment,” he says. “I’m 52 years old and my career is just getting started.”
Technically, though, this is Bautista’s second career: His first, as an MMA fighter and WWE wrestler, made him a four-time World Heavyweight Championship and two-time WWE Championship winner. Acting gave him a new outlet, initially playing police, pushers, and fighters before he became a breakout star as Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. And he says he has a third career in mind: He wants to direct movies, and soon. He says acting has pulled him away from his career plan “These are good problems to have
During the opening credits of Zack Snyder’s
Army of the Dead, you can nearly feel the director’s giddy smile stretching across the hedonistic melee. In Las Vegas, flesh-eating zombies are beginning to outnumber the casinos. And they’re consuming unsuspecting tourists just as quickly. Cannibalistic showgirls prowl for prey. Slot-machine junkies bundling up their remaining pittance dodge the newly infected. A dimwitted Elvis impersonator, wig askew, looks blankly over the carnage as Richard Cheese’s elegiac cover of “Viva Las Vegas” soundtracks the zany bloodshed. It’s the rare instance where a film’s climax occurs in the first few minutes.
Bob Strauss May 14, 2021Updated: May 14, 2021, 4:31 pm
Dave Bautista plays Scott Ward in the Netflix movie “Army of the Dead.” Photo: Clay Enos , Netflix
Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead” is the first Netflix movie to get a wide theatrical release, starting this Friday, May 14, a week ahead of its debut on the streaming service. But it’s hard to imagine a bigger, more action-packed and sumptuous (if gory) spectacle to launch this pandemic-necessitated partnership between traditional business rivals.
Reopening theaters need flashy content to lure back customers, especially as newer streamers are moving in on Netflix’s turf (even Snyder’s “Justice League” director’s cut was released straight to streaming on HBO Max). Plus, Snyder’s first zombie film since his debut feature, the 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” is his most enjoyable in 17 years as well.