Army Of The Dead: 9 Stupid Blunders That Completely Ruined It

Firstly, the insufferable father-daughter story should've been completely removed.

Out of all the cliches in mainstream Hollywood cinema, there are few as annoying as the family trouble subplot, which occurs in far too many big-budget genre films. Sadly, Army of the Dead indulges in this, too.

Dave Bautista's protagonist, Scott, has a daughter, Katie (Ella Purnell), who he's estranged from and, as you'd expect, the ending sees them reconcile in a thoroughly unconvincing manner. The other scenes with the pair are also poorly written and predictable.

Dave Bautista does his very best, but even Daniel Day-Lewis or Laurence Olivier would struggle to make this cliched storytelling and stilted dialogue work, and sure enough, this entire subplot falls as flat as a pancake.

The ending sees Katie shoot Scott after he turns into a zombie; this conclusion doesn't feel earned at all, and although it's mildly touching, that's only really thanks to Bautista's strong performance.

It's a tragic and ironic comment that a similar scene from Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead is far more powerful and well-written, even though that movie was a satire of zombie films.