World War Z (2013)

World War Z (2013)

Right off the bat, I haven’t read the book.  A lot of the criticism this movie got was from fans of the book claiming the film didn’t stay true enough to the original story.  I confess, this pisses me off too, but I’m going to review this movie from a purely unbiased, non well read standpoint.

The Plot

Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is your typical waffle cooking stay at home dad with luscious long blonde locks.  He’s just trying to live his life with his beautiful family, but that wouldn’t make for a good film now would it?  Gerry and his wife Karin, (knock off Jessica Chastain) are taking their two daughters out for the day when suddenly they find themselves in the middle of a graphic zombie apocalypse.  The zombies don’t pull any punches, and are some of the most vicious undead I’ve ever seen on the big screen.  Gerry ain’t scared though, as he skillfully leads his family to safety.  Something tells me he does more than just flip waffles, duh!

Imma go medieval on these zombies

Our suspicions about Gerry are confirmed when the Deputy Secretary General speed dials him to come in and help what remains of the UN to get to the bottom of the outbreak. Turns out Gerry is a god damn UN Investigator, surprise surprise.  Gerry and the Deputy come to an agreement; Gerry will come out of retirement and investigate the origin of the outbreak if his family is taken care of for him while he’s gone.  Just like that our lovable, long haired hero is sent off to North Korea to aid a young disease specialist get to the bottom of the outbreak.  They are accompanied by some US marines, aka the expendables.

Immediately upon landing, they are attacked by savage zombies.  The specialist, aka the whole purpose of this plan, slips falls and shoots himself in the face…. Seriously.  So there goes that idea.  The trip is not a total waste, however, as Gerry discovers that there is, in fact, a 100% safe zone in Israel.  Jerusalem was the first to react to the virus, leading Gerbear to believe that to be the origin of the virus. 

Get this, the reason that Jerusalem was the first to react to the virus, Nazi Germany.  The Jews learned to never take any threat lightly, however unlikely it may be.  Hence, when they heard about a potential zombie outbreak they did the only rational thing they could think of, build a massive wall around the city.  Throughout his travels, Gerry learns much about the zombie outbreak, including what he believes to be a cure, but can he escape the increasingly dangerous situations he finds himself in?  Probably, he is Brad Pitt after all. 

My Take

This movie is somewhat different from many of the other zombie movies I have seen in recent years.  Sure it has the same basic run from zombies fight some zombies formula, but there is much more to this story than most zombie fans will be used to.  This film shows the zombie apocalypse on a global scale.  It depicts what the UN is able and willing to do in the case of a wide scale outbreak.  It is quite different than other zombie favourites like Dawn of The Dead, Shaun of The Dead, I am Legend, 28 Days later, in that they are all relatively local outbreaks.  They merely show us radio chatter and lead us to assume that all forms of government have collapsed.   World War Z shows us that the government will still have some form of semblance and be able to mount a plan of action.  They form up in a pretty bad ass battle ship fleet, which is one of my favorite scenes in the movie.  Some of the politics of this movie are very interesting.  Seeing how different nations, such as the US, North Korea and Israel, deal with the outbreak differently is thought provoking. 

The zombies in this movie originate from a strain of rabies.  They are fast and they are vicious and crazy as fuck.

Seriously they do some crazy shit

They don’t seem to eat their victims but rather bite to spread the disease or simply tear their victims to pieces.  They can be only be killed with headshots or burnt to a crisp, as is tradition.  They are portrayed via a blend of CG and excellent make up.  CG is used for the massive hordes while make up is reserved  for the more personal zombie encounters.  Both styles are terrifying, and the extras who played the real zombies did an excellent job of dehumanizing their movements.

The Verdict

This movie was very well done, in my opinion.  It didn’t drag, it didn’t bore and it offered a different perspective than most other zombie movies.  It contained a good blend of action and politics (not too much politics) to keep you entertained while still delivering some thought provoking content.  For originality, good CG and a suffocating sense of dread, I give this movie…

8.1/10