Predicted Rating: 4 Stars
Directed by: Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace). Starring: Brad Pitt (Inglorious Basterds), Mirielle Enos (Gangster Squad), and Matthew Fox (Lost).
A viral outbreak of unknown origin causes a world-wide zombie apocalypse. After escaping the initial mayhem, former United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt) is rescued and sent to a U.S. Navy Ship off the coast of New York with his wife (Enos) and two daughters. Lane is enlisted by the government to investigate the source of the viral outbreak in an attempt to cure the virus and end the potential apocalypse. The search leads Lane on a whirlwind trip across the globe eventually ending up in a WHO research facility located in Cardiff, Wales before stumbling on an alternative measure to save the world.
As zombie movies are obviously a tried and tested genre and seem to be the flavour of the month for an extended period of time, World War Z must be different in some way in order to impress me. Unlike many zombie movies, World War Z takes a more militaristic approach. This means it is more of an action movie than say Night of the Living Dead or 28 Days Later. Unfortunately, my favourite zombie movies are the ones which focus more on character development rather that the action sequences. This way you can pick your favourite and least favourite characters, feel for them if they lose someone close to them and ultimately imagine how you would act in a similar situation. World War Z tends to rely on shaky camera effects, drawn out action sequences and abrupt changes in volume to build an atmosphere. In my opinion, this makes the movie appear impersonal and it fails to do what I value as the most important aspect of a post-apocalyptic movie; make the viewer believe they too are living this apocalypse. Apart from Gerry, the characters seem wooden, and excuse the extremely cliche analogy but it had to be done, are zombie like even when they are supposed to be alive.
In an attempt to be a more action packed zombie movie, World War Z often tries to do too much. The location changes way too much and whilst it is not hard to follow where Gerry is, he often seems lost. He is in Philadelphia, now New Jersey, now South Korea, now Israel and finally settling on Wales. Wait Wales? Why would you want to go there. Surely there are former WHO research facilities in more luxurious locations. Then to make things worse, everyone seeks refuge in Nova Scotia, Canada. You thought somewhere warmer would be more convenient. Apart from the rapid location changes, World War Z changes it's pace too much as well. It will be really fast paced in some places and then painstakingly slow on other occasions. This makes it extremely difficult to relax and enjoy the film because it often struggles to find it's identity.
As the novel this film is based on is written by the same guy who wrote The Zombie Survival Guide (Max Brooks), it is interesting to see some of his survival recommendations come into theoretical practice. The big one Brooks discusses and is flabbergasted that it is never used in zombie movies previously is push bikes as transportation. The reason why they are effective is that they never run out of fuel, they are silent and the repercussions of having an accident are far less significant than say with a motorcycle. World War Z features a very good scene involving push bikes and the importance of not making any noise. The film also looks at using an apartment complex as a good temporary stronghold and the importance of moving around. Very important tips to take into account if you believe a zombie apocalypse is imminent. We all know that it probably won't happen but if the world is to end in someway, a seriously infectious virus that re-animates the dead is definitely the way to do it.
Overall: A fairly solid and enjoyable action movie but lacks that certain something special in an overcrowded genre to really blow me away. 3.5 Stars.
Thumbs Up: Go and see this movie.
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