World War Z

World War Z, the latest film from director Marc Foster has me a tad confused. Part of me feels like my intelligence has been insulted for an hour and fifty-six minutes. The other part of me asks can you, should you try to apply intelligence when dealing with zombies? Perhaps not, I don't know. What I DO know, World War Z, while having some legitimately scary moments is overall a disappointing film which is why it only gets a bucket and a half of Killer Korn.





Okay, right from the start I am going to admit, I read the book, World War Z. In fact I was reading the brilliant Max Brooks book long before I heard Brad Pitt bought the rights to the book in order to bring the amazing story to the screen. After what I just saw, the only thing Pitt and his Plan B production company bought was the name of the book, because to me the only thing the movie and the book have in common (other than the title) is zombies. I would definitely recommend the book over the movie though the movie, while being completely absurd at times, didn't suck. I thought it was going to be atrocious due to the reports of costly overruns, massive re-shoots, and the entire last act needing to be rewritten. When you hear things like that, they usually don't bode well for the project. Director Marc Foster does an admirable job in pulling it all together, sadly though, what he was given to work with screenplay wise was a joke. It goes to that part of me feeling like my intelligence was insulted. In every other zombie related movie or TV show I have seen, zombies kill to eat. They're a mindless horde that kills and devours everything in their path. The zombies in World War Z are apparently the evolved dead.

Brad plays Gerry Lane, a one time investigator for the UN. He quit that job to be a good dad to his two daughters, Sterling Jerins who plays Constance and Abigail Hargrove who plays Rachel. Gerry is also the dutiful and loving husband to his wife Karin Lane, played by The Killing's Mireille Enos. The movie opens with the kids invading their parents bedroom and requesting pancakes for breakfast. While they eat, the TV reporter starts talk about martial law and how things around the world in certain cities isn't looking all that well thanks to a viral breakout of some sort. On their way somewhere (destination unknown), the Lanes are driving through Philadelphia and all hell breaks loose. While Gerry is running though, he notices (with his amazing powers of observation) how long it took one man to turn from human to the undead, all while running away. They get stranded in Newark and Gerry pulls some old UN strings and arranges to get his family airlifted out of Newark but they have to get to the roof of an apartment building. They get trapped in the building while looking for a place to hide for the night, the zombies close in but luckily the Lanes are taken in by a frightened Latino family. Why they even opened the door is a mystery but oh well.

As the trailer shows, the Lanes make it off the roof and get taken to a UN ship 200 miles off the coast of NY and they're hard at work trying to coordinate things. Gerry's old boss Thierry, played by Fana Mokoena agrees to keep Gerry's family safe on the one condition per the Naval Commander, played by David Andrews. He has to go out into the field and try to find out exactly what is going on. Gerry is to accompany young Dr. Andrew Fassbach, played by Elyes Gabel. If he doesn't, he and his family would be transported back to Philadelphia and they would be on their own. Of course Gerry agrees and that's when the movie really begins. Now where I felt like my intelligence was insulted was during Gerry's trip to Israel. It's there where his amazing powers of observation strike again. He notices how the undead horde run right around certain people to get to others. He then makes an AMAZING leap, after a very interesting airplane sequence and crash (also in the trailer), where he figures that the zombies only want to bite into healthy people to continue to spread the pathogen. They, the undead, can somehow sense who has a fatal disease and who doesn't. Now if one has to die in order to become a zombie, wouldn't ones brain activity cease to function? I would think so, and yet these undead can sense who's already sick with cancer or some other fatal ailment, and who's not. WTF???? Which of the five writers thought THAT was a good idea?

Marc Foster was put in charge of this (reported) 190 million dollar budgeted film, though rumors have it north of 250 million, and it appears the bulk of the money went into the CG zombies. The CG work was extensive and I am sure the location shoots added heavily to the budget. It's too bad any one of the SIX production companies or Paramount didn't spend a little more to buy a better screenplay of the book. I like Marc Foster's work, I thoroughly enjoyed his Quantum of Solace, Monster Ball, and Stranger Than Fiction films. I didn't like his take on the Kite Runner, but he can't be blamed for that movie being bad, the book was so amazing. Same thing here, I don't really like WWZ but that's more than likely because the book just nailed it. Where the movie got it wrong, the book got it so right. It's a great looking film though, dark and frightening at times, light and comforting at others, and the color palette was easy on the eyes. Cinematographer Ben Seresin should be applauded for his contributions. What I did find a bit odd about this film was that the TV show The Walking Dead has more blood in it than this film. Scored by Marco Beltrami, the music is very forgettable. Seriously, I hardly even noticed it. If you liked the book then skip World War Z for it will sorely disappoint you. If you have NOT read the book and you have a thing for zombies, be prepared to be slightly disappointed. Unfortunately, if you're in either camp you are bound to be somewhat disappointed but hey, don't say I didn't warn you. I'll see you at the theater!