Just like their very nature, zombies refuse to go away. (In fact, the genre has infected others, such as teenage love story Warm Bodies.) With this week’s World War Z, even the original outbreak movie is evolving. By stepping away from its traditional roots, this new zombie flick is more disaster movie than bloody undead marathon.
Based on the critically acclaimed Max Brooks novel of the same name, World War Z takes a larger departure from its roots as a compilation of fictional journal entries and instead inserts producer/actor Brad Pitt as ex-U.N. Investigator Gerry Lane, who goes out into the zombie infested world in search of an answer to the undead epidemic. The choice makes sense when adapting the book into a movie, providing an overarching story and giving the audience time to attach themselves to characters, but it has fans of the novel in a rage over the change of the basic structure of the original story.
World War Z is a slight departure from traditional zombie movies where those left living hole up in a mall or other socially poignant structure while waves of undead beat on their door and viewers are forced to examine the human condition. World War Z is less concerned with the siege than a global outbreak that threatens to exterminate the human race before it has a chance to fight back. The world-hopping Pitt gets glimpses of humanity at its best while fighting it off at its very worst in his search to backtrack the virus in hopes of finding a cure. His journey is also fueled by desire to get back to the family he was forced to leave on a floating sanctuary.
Pitt gives a solid performance as he always does and as is expected from an actor of his tenure and resume. As the main and only character that we get to spend significant time with, he delivers a feeling of urgency and determination with everything he does. Not to be out done is his supporting cast of Mireille Enos (Karin Lane) and Daniella Kertesz (Segen), carry much of the pathos of the movie as the concerned wife and a disabled soldier.
The action of the film bounces between intense and up close to distant to show the the mass hysteria and overwhelming numbers of undead. Contrary to Romero’s slow and lumbering zombies World War Z‘s zombies are faster and more crazed than ever. Running with a feral ferocity, these zombies show no concern for each other or their own life (or un-life). As seen in every trailer, they will trample over themselves and take suicidal leaps off buildings all in an attempt to get just a taste of fresh meat. When they’re not in a feeding frenzy the zombies are eerile calm, and their chattering teeth will haunt viewers for weeks.
In the end World War Z will likely be forgotten in zombie history for the lack of memorable individuals or strong overarching story line, but it’s not for lack of trying. The film is definitely enjoyable and worth a watch, but maybe not worth the price that comes along with a theater viewing.
Wait for it to come out in the RedBoxes and your expectations will be lower so your enjoyment will be higher.
