Army of the Dead Ending Explained [SPOILER!]

SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!

From filmmaker Zack Snyder (300, Zack Snyder’s Justice League), Army of the Dead place following a zombie outbreak that has left Las Vegas in ruins and walled off from the rest of the world. When Scott Ward (Dave Bautista), a displaced Vegas local, a former zombie war hero who’s now flipping burgers on the outskirts of the town he now calls home, is approached by casino boss Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada), it’s with the ultimate proposition: Break into the zombie-infested quarantined zone to retrieve $200 million sitting in a vault beneath the strip before the city is nuked by the government in 32 hours. Driven by the hope that the payoff could help pave the way to a reconciliation with his estranged daughter Kate (Ella Purnell), Ward takes on the challenge, assembling a ragtag team of experts for the heist. They include Maria Cruz (Ana de la Reguera), an ace mechanic and Ward’s old friend; Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), a zombie killing machine; Marianne Peters (Tig Notaro), a cynical helicopter pilot; Mikey Guzman (Raúl Castillo), a go-for-broke influencer and Chambers (Samantha Win), his ride-or-die; Martin (Garret Dillahunt), the casino’s head of security; a badass warrior known as the Coyote (Nora Arnezeder) who recruits Burt Cummings (Theo Rossi), a slimy security guard; and a brilliant German safecracker named Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer). Scott finds an unexpected emotional hurdle when Kate joins the expedition to search for Geeta (Huma S. Qureshi), a mother who’s gone missing inside the city. With a ticking clock, a notoriously impenetrable vault, and a smarter, faster horde of Alpha zombies closing in, only one thing’s for certain in the greatest heist ever attempted: survivors take all.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Army of the Dead Video Summary

Army of the Dead Plot Summary and Synopsis

In the United States, a military convoy is transporting an unknown payload from Area 51 when it is struck by a car driven by distracted newlyweds. The payload container is compromised, unleashing a superhuman zombie that dispatches the soldiers and infects two of them. The zombies head to Las Vegas where they begin an outbreak, forcing the government to quarantine the city off.

Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) is a former mercenary who aided the evacuation of Las Vegas earlier now runs a burger restaurant. He is approached by casino owner Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his associate Martin (Garret Dillahunt) about a job to steal over $200 million USD from the vault in his casino before the US military destroys the city with a tactical nuclear strike a day later. Ward ultimately agrees and recruits his former teammates Maria Cruz (Ana de la Reguera) and Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), along with helicopter pilot Marianne Peters (Tig Notaro), German safecracker Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), and Mexican sharpshooter Mikey Guzman (Raúl Castillo), who brings along his associate Chambers (Samantha Win). Martin joins the team to observe them. To help them infiltrate the city, they enlist the help of Ward’s daughter Kate (Ella Purnell), who works at the quarantine camp just outside the city and became estranged from her father after he was forced to kill her mother when she had turned into a zombie. Kate directs them to Lily (Nora Arnezeder), who knows her way around the city. Lily also recruits Burt Cummings (Theo Rossi), the security guard for the quarantine camp, for undisclosed reasons. When Kate learns that Lily had escorted her friend Geeta (Huma Qureshi) into the city, Kate insists on tagging along to find her, much to Ward’s objections.

When they enter the city, Lily shoots and wounds Cummings for sexually abusing female workers and refugees. She explains to the team that there are now two groups of zombies, the normal zombies and a more intelligent group known as Alphas and that the only way to gain temporary safe passage is to offer a sacrifice. An Alpha female known as the Bride takes Cummings away to the Mt. Olympus casino where he is infected by the Alpha leader Zeus. Lily leads the team through a building to evade outdoor detection where they discover numerous hibernating normal zombies. Ward creates a path through the zombies with nightsticks. Chambers suspects Martin of ulterior motives, so Martin diverts her off the path, causing her to wake up the zombies, forcing Guzman to kill her and the group of zombies by exploding her gas container.

When the team reaches Bly’s casino, Ward and Kate turn on the power, Peters prepares a waiting helicopter on the roof and Dieter works on the vault. Martin and Lily watch for zombies outside when they are confronted by the Bride. Martin traps and beheads the bride, taking her head. Zeus discovers her body and directs the Alphas to Bly’s casino. A news report reveals that the government had moved up the nuclear strike, giving the team only over one hour to finish the job. When Dieter finally opens the vault, Ward discovers that Kate had left to look for Geeta. Ward and Cruz decide to go look for her when they are attacked by the Alphas and Cruz is immediately killed. Martin traps them in the basement, explaining that Bly had no interest in the money. Bly is working with the government to create controlled zombies and the Bride’s head is their key. However, when he gets outside, he discovers that Lily had swapped the head for a money counter and is killed by a zombie tiger. Vanderohe attempts to fight Zeus but is easily overwhelmed so Dieter sacrifices himself to get Vanderohe safe in the vault. Ward, Lily and Guzman make it to the lobby where they are attacked by zombies. Guzman is overwhelmed so he detonates grenades on himself, killing the zombies and destroying the money they were able to claim. When they make it to the roof, they are confronted by Zeus. Lily distracts him with the Bride’s head so Ward and Peters can escape. Zeus impales Lily, but she throws away the Bride’s head before she dies.

Ward asks Peters to take him to the Mt. Olympus casino to retrieve Kate. In the casino, Kate finds Geeta, but they are attacked by an infected Cummings, who is killed by Kate. They end up cornered by Zeus, but Ward arrives to subdue him with an explosive. They make it to the roof and get on the helicopter, but Zeus survives and jumps onto the helicopter, leading to a fight between Ward and Zeus. Zeus bites Ward, but Ward is able to kill Zeus. The nuclear warhead strikes the city, with the blast sending the helicopter to crash, killing Peters and Geeta. Kate survives and finds Ward dying. Ward gives Kate a few hundred thousand dollars to start her life anew before dying and turning into a zombie, forcing a tearful Kate to kill him as a rescue helicopter arrives.

Army of the Dead Ending

In the ruins of Las Vegas, Vanderohe had survived the blast and leaves with the money leftover in the vault. Taking a car to Utah, he rents a private plane to take him to Mexico City. On the flight, he begins feeling dizzy and the flight attendants notice his body temperature dropping. When he checks on himself in the bathroom, he discovers a bite mark on his arm from his fight with Zeus, realizing he will turn into a zombie himself.

Ending Explained

The protagonist completed his arc, saved his daughter, and received redemption. The final scene is a strong cliffhanger for the next installment.

Cooncel Rating

Nice heist movie in zombie surroundings.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Title: Army of the Dead
US Release Date: May 14, 2021
Starring: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi, Garret Dillahunt
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Written by: Zack Snyder, Shay Hatten, Joby Harold
Synopsis: Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries takes the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.