World War Z (2013) Directed by Marc Forster. Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz. IMDB says: “United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.”
Better Than expected. That’s the best way to describe World War Z. To be honest I went in not expecting much at all. I expected a cheap action flick with zombies that lacked any cohesive plot or originality. What I got was much more. The plot is pretty straightforward. Brad Pitt is a former investigator for the UN and he was one of the best. His contacts are able to airlift him out of danger but in return he must go back to work and help locate the origins of this epidemic that seems to be overtaking the entire world. Sure it’s a little farfetched but I think it’s head and shoulders above your typical “oh no! zombies! Lets run away and try to survive” genre fare. It’s a zombie film but it is also a drama in the same realm as Outbreak where the driving force is investigating the cause.
A lot of the elements that make this film up really work. The acting concerned me from what I saw in the trailer but Brad Pitt is more than serviceable in this role. He’s also the only actor with a sizeable chunk of screen time. Well, besides Mireille Enos but her role as Brad’s wife is unconvincing and overemphasized. I was pleased with the directing as well, although there were a few scenes that felt patched together and lacked the cohesiveness you would expect a film of this caliber to contain.
The effects work was good. The action sequences fast-paced and believable and there are even a few frightening moments that might give the horror lover a reason to smile. What they do with the zombies, both in appearance and behavior I thought was pretty exceptional. They’re just the creepy fast-moving zombie that hardcore zombie lovers will want to see. I saw this film in 3D and for me that did actually add a little bit to the experience. This might be the first time I’ve recommended seeing something in 3D but if you have the opportunity go for it and let me know what you think. Some of the 3D scenes are gratuitous things exploding at you but in general it puts a little more depth into things.
The biggest concern I’ve heard is that this film is a massive deviation from the novel with the same name. As someone who rarely reads novels, that is of little concern to me. What this film does is bring some originality to the undead genre which ironically could use a little life breathed into it. The biggest criticism I personally have is the lack of effective marketing. The trailers didn’t really give a sense of the plot and more than a few people I’ve talked to thought this film was about aliens. The concern I have is a lot of people won’t give this film the chance it deserves and those people will be missing out.
