World War Z:
Gerry Lane, a former UN investigator, must protect his family during a huge, apocalyptic breakout of a zombie virus. He leaves his family with his good friend and former co-worker Thierry Umutoni, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, on a military base whilst he embarks on a mission: to find the location where the outbreak began to find a possible cure, or at least find the cure. He must survive the zombie plague, which is now driving the human race to the brink of extinction. While the "World War" doesn't actually really start until near the end, this film is very entertaining. Although the film doesn't follow the book very well, which might disappoint fans, writer Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom, State of Play, Lions for Lambs, and the upcoming White Jazz) is able to make the film very fun, and entertaining in it's own right, and although very different, as good as the book. Now, the book follows several different people and their stories, and this film made the wise decision to focus on just one: Gerry and his family. I think this works better for the film because that way we remain focused on one story and don't feel like it's too all over the place. Brad Pitt does a good job as the lead role, and you really like him by the end, and want him to survive and get back to his family. The rest of the cast, which includes Mireille Enos, Fana Mokoena, Daniella Kertesz, Peter Capaldi, David Morse, Ludi Boeken, Matthew Fox, and James Badge Dale (The Departed, 24, Iron Man 3, The Pacific, The Grey, Flight, The Conspirator, The Lone Ranger), are well-cast, and although many are cast in small/borderline cameo roles, they do a good job conveying the emotions the characters are going through: fear, loss, frustration, anger. Some of the characters can be dicks, though. Others can be very stupid, without giving too much away: early on in the film, a character you thought was important and would survive until at least Act II is killed in the dumbest way possible: his owns stupidity. Other than that, most of them are likeable, which makes you want to see them survive this zombie onslaught. There are also some celebrity cameos early on during some quick clips of news footage, including Piers Morgan and theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, host of Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible. Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner, Stranger Than Fiction, Quantum of Solace) does a good job directing this film, but some of the cinematography was bad, some action scenes had way too much shaky cam. I get it's supposed to make you feel as disoriented as the characters, but when I can't tell what's happening in the story, it's kind of irritating. What's pretty interesting in the film is the portrayal of the zombies: they are technically undead, so they're not just infected humans like in the game The Last of Us (another zombie story which came out recently, which I'll review soon) or in 28 Days Later, and the characters actually refer to them as "zombies", which is awesome, as the letter "Z" is in the title, and I'm really getting tired of movies and TV and other media giving the zombies stupid nicknames like "infected", "walkers", "biters", "clickers", etc. It's stupid, and they should just call them what they are: zombies. People in real life are starting to refer to them as walkers and runners. The zombies in this film, stumble, but also run when prey is started, they also sort of combine different elements of zombies: Romero zombies' blank stare, Rage zombies' (28 Days Later) super speed, The Last of Us' clacking teeth zombies, etc. Also, the zombies leap onto their prey and tackle them when they get close, and they also climb on top of each other like ants do, making a pyramid to get to high places. They also turn into zombies within 12 seconds of being bitten or killed, unless they are shot in the head or burned alive. The film also gives a very interesting explanation for how to stop the zombies form attacking people, which I won't spoil, whether you love it or hate it, it's still an interesting move on the writer's part. My few problems with the film were: the plot goes way too fast, so it feels like the film is too short; the plot can get somewhat repetitive, almost like the same kind of stuff keeps happening over and over; no real development for the side characters; and finally, not enough gore. Now, I understand they had to cut the gore to make the film marketable to a wider audience, and leaving some stuff to the imagination does help, but a lot of the time you are left wishing for a really cool, gruesome zombie kill (either a human is killed, or a human kills a zombie, either one is fine), I hope there is an R-rated Director's Cut that comes out on Blu-ray, because I'll buy that for sure. Funny enough, the film isn't really scary, except for a few bits, but is more of a summer action film, which works, and it's surprising to see a zombie apocalypse movie as a summer blockbuster. Funny enough, the apocalypse seems to be a pattern for this summer's blockbusters: This Is the End, World War Z, Pacific Rim, Man of Steel (at least towards the climax), and After Earth, hell all year round, too: Oblivion and The World's End (which isn't really a worldwide apocalypse, but more for a single town). Speaking of blockbusters, the film has surprisingly good CGI, especially for a zombie film, which is considered somewhat of a B-movie subgenre. It's nothing like, say, The Hobbit, or Man of Steel, or Iron Man 3, but it's pretty damn good. The action scenes are very thrilling, and have everything you want in a blockbuster: explosions, guns, and tons of destruction. My favorite would probably be either the sequence in New Jersey or the zombie attack on Israel, probably the latter, as it has the most zombies. Something interesting about the music, the main score and additional music were written by Marco Beltrami, but the additional music was actually performed by British alternative rock band Muse, whom I personally think are a really good band. So, although it strays a bit far from the source material, World War Z is a high-octane action-thriller with a horror overtone, the cast are good, the action is great, and the CG is top-notch, at least, for a zombie film. It's exhilarating and one of the summer's best so far, way better than After Earth, for sure. 3.5/5 stars.
(Image: Wikipedia)
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