World War Z Reviews

Brad Pitt plays Gerry, a man who joins an army when humanity starts to end, by killing the dead people in ‘World War Z’. ‘World War Z’ is enjoyable, and yet I was quite bored through most of it.

Brad Pitt isn’t bad in the lead role, but his performance isn’t quite enough to make this film good, it’s far from being a bad movie, but somehow, I only really liked the plane crash scene and the zombie in lab scene, the rest wasn’t entirely interesting and it’s thanks to these scenes that this film became better than mediocre. I expected more from this film and in the end, I didn’t think it was good, just plain average.

After a messy production period, various re-shoots, and a 190 million dollar budget- exceeding the original 125 million price tag- World War Z had been expected to flop both critically and financially. Much to the surprise of most, World War Z did moderately well with critics and performed well at box office.

As for me personally, I found it pretty difficult to even sit still during the film as it was a truly nerve-wracking experience. It was not only suspenseful, it was stressful (and certainly a little terrifying at times).

Needless to say, I had a great time.

World War Z imagines what would happen if a zombie outbreak occurred on the earth, and believe me, it ain't pretty. Humans are infected as soon as they are bitten by one of the undead, and then they become zombies too. Gerry Lane is forced to assist the UN and find a way to stop the zombies in order to secure his family's safety. From this point on, it's one exciting zombie scene after another.

Suspenseful doesn't even begin to describe the tension and fear within this film. It's frightening at times, and certainly startling (I can admit to jumping at a number of occasions), and I was most certainly at the edge of my seat for most of the run-time. Indeed, I haven't seen a film this suspenseful at the cinema since last year's The Hunger Games. In fact, this is even more so.

In a film as suspenseful as this one, you tend to really appreciate those small victories that occur throughout the movie, just as the characters do themselves. They give you a chance to relax before the next thrilling action scene.

And the action scenes never really feel predictable or tired. Quite the opposite. Each nail-biting zombie scene is often eclipsed by the next one, causing each new action bit to be bigger and better than the last. One might expect World War Z to eventually falter as a result (and I suppose one could argue that it does at the end, though I'll get to that), but honestly, I don't recall ever thinking to myself "Gee, this scene's pretty weak compared to the last one." I was in far, far too much suspense to even give that sort of opinion a second though. There was not a single action scene in this film where I felt I could relax, and in a film like this, that can only be counted as a strength.

The zombies are handled well. Some are bound to be put off by the fact that these zombies are fast (as opposed to the slower-moving beasts we're used to seeing), but they're grotesque and terrifying, making them seem immensely formidable. And the family aspect adds depth (though I couldn't help but feel a little less compassion for Gerry's wife Karin after she does something absurdly stupid in one of the earlier action scenes).

The one thing in World War Z, though, that just doesn't reach the standard the film has set for itself, is at the end. I will not spoil the events that occur at the end, but let's just say that somebody gets incredibly, eye-rollingly lucky.

The acting is good all round, but as one might expect, Brad Pitt is the stand-out here. Pitt perfectly displays his care for his family, and we see the stress in his face throughout the film. One could argue that his character is a wee bit bland (indeed, many characters are decidedly undeveloped), but it's hard to give things like that any kind of thought when you're so engaged with the events onscreen.

The score is composed by Marco Beltrami. Supposedly, World War Z received an R rating from the MPAA entirely because of Beltrami's brutal score, so the music had to be toned down to make the cut to PG-13. Still, one needn't be deceived into thinking that the score is tame as a result of this. It still provides the suspense, the emotion, and occasionally the triumph, displayed in the film. The main theme (often performed with a piano and various synthesizers) is not a theme I would've expected to work in a film like this, but work it does, and though it isn't especially memorable, it's at least different.

Truly gripping, and deliciously terrifying, World War Z never loses your attention. I could hardly take my eyes of the screen once the film started. In many respects, World War Z reminds me distinctly of I Am Legend. Both had strong male leads, both were portraying family men, and both involved fighting infected humans at some point in the near future. So while World War Z isn't quite as original or daring as I Am Legend, the result is still the same: A highly suspenseful, and completely absorbing little film.

World War Z is not a film I would necessarily return to (I don't think I could ever subject myself to so much suspense in the same film twice), but World War Z does exactly what a film should do, and that is entertain. And believe me; there is never a dull moment in World War Z.

When I first heard about this movie, I got pretty excited. At last, we had a blockbuster starring Brad Pitt, one of the most reliable actors at work nowadays, with Marc Forster, a really exciting director, and it was an adaptation of a best-seller dealing with zombies. Basically, it sounded really awesome. Then, like everyone else, I heard that the production was far from being peachy, they re-shot a whole third and the release date was pushed by a full year. It didn't really sound promising anymore but guess what? I still enjoyed the damned thing. Of course, it was nothing great like I was hoping for but, for a blockbuster, it was still pretty entertaining. Basically, Brad Pitt carries the whole thing on his shoulders (there were maybe 3 actors I recognized and one of them, Matthew Fox was basically an extra, rather surprising for a production of this size) but he did a pretty good job. Furthermore, there were a couple of a really impressive scenes (the fall out of Israel and the plane crash). Still, the story didn't work very well. Honestly, I hope the book is better, otherwise they pretty messed up the script. I mean, I liked the background they created for the main character but, a part from that, there were so many awkward moments. Let's take the beginning for example. Indeed, Pitt's family is enjoying their breakfast, they go on their daily routine and, suddenly, out of f*cking nowhere, there is a zombie outbreak. How come they didn't hear about it before? It should take at least a couple of days for such an outbreak so they should be aware about what's going on. Also, when he goes to Israel, there is this Mossad guy explaining how they ended up protecting themselves. Seriously, what he said, did it make any sense to you? Basically, our main character got there just to make sure we could see this awesome action sequence, that's it. Finally, the way he picks up completely at random a deathly virus and by miracle the trick works was also rather unbelievable. I also wonder how this camouflage-virus does work. So, there were many things in the story that barely worked (not mentioning how often the whole theater was laughing at the behavior of the zombies) but, still, I had a good time. Nick, my step-son, is a huge fan of zombie flicks and had a blast watching this and I shared his enthusiasm. So, from a really ambitious project, it turned out to be a rather half-baked but still entertaining blockbuster and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

When you globalize the zombie pandemic for a summer blockbuster there is potential to create a film that has great visuals. The problem is then creating a story that makes you feel for the core set of characters whose survival is the key piece of the puzzle. World War Z creates these types of scenarios, but ultimately falls victim to genre cliché while still remaining an entertaining piece of summer cinema.

After the zombie outbreak, United Nations worker Gerry Lane is sent world wide to try and find the cure before there is no hope left for humanity.

When you take a face like Brad Pitt and make him the focal point of your want to be poignant zombie adventure you will most certainly peak the interest of fresh out of school moviegoers looking to see some zombie action. Add in the PG-13 and you are sure to appeal to wider audience, while at the same time alienating those who wanted to see a politically poignant and efficient zombie film that had some violence left in it.

What World War Z became was a world wide let’s out manoeuvre zombies and stay alive film, which is not to say it became in awful film in doing so but it did take away from the idea this was about the chaos and fear of the widespread pandemic. For almost 2 hours we had Brad Pitt’s Gerry Lane frantically avoiding these zombies that could travel quickly and kill almost instantly and we only got one or two good glimpses of the damage they could cause.

That being said it is time to focus on what World War Z did just right. It was fun, the cinematography was wonderful, the scene set in Israel with the zombies climbing the wall was one of the most chilling and well executed scenes in a long while. The suspense in this movie was off the charts, right from the beginning all the way to the thrilling climax. World War Z director Mark Forster used small elements of horror to near perfection, creating a suspense that was unlike any other in a summer blockbuster. The action was non stop, in your face and done on an incredibly grand scale, most notable the scene at the wall in Jerusalem.

Then what happens is World War Z hits that barrier of becoming either a mildly violent film with a predictable ending, or the insanely violent zombie film that chooses to make the ending bleak but real. It opted for a traditional happy family reunited ending, causing the emotional back drop of the film to be meaningless. The whole point of the film is that world had been flipped upside down and the society we knew was crumbling and one man had the ability to see this globally and the ending is merely him and a small group of survivors talking about the world will hopefully one day be what it was. Sorry dude, and writers of this film but if the world ever goes to hell as depicted in World War Z, it seems like things are going to be a little worse for the time being and that sticking together is the key way to survive.

World War Z is a fun summer movie, with suspenseful action but never develops into the game changer it could have been. The zombie effects look cool, and the damage they do is beyond awesome to see, but it becomes full of typical summer blockbuster elements. Action, Action, Action and now substance is what World War Z developed into. Enjoy it for it is, a beautifully shot film full of great action and global set pieces.

"Every human being we save is one less zombie to fight."

Here's the shocker: World War Z doesn't suck. It's been impossible to miss all the bad press about the movie across its production period, most notoriously when it entered a reported seven weeks of reshoots in a bid to salvage the picture. Yet, the finished product is surprisingly good, an enjoyable though not perfect big-budget zombie epic based on Max Brooks' 2006 novel of the same name. In an age full of small-scale zombie stories like Dawn of the Dead and TV's The Walking Dead, it's refreshing to watch World War Z, which is more of a global action-thriller than a simple survival story. Nevertheless, the movie is flawed in several departments. It's serviceable as a blockbuster, but that's pretty much all it is: a well-paced, conventional action film in need of a more robust script.

A former UN researcher, Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is now a devoted family man, looking out for his adoring wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and two daughters (Sterling Jerins and Abigail Hargrove). But a zombie outbreak begins unfolding right in front of them, prompting Gerry's former employers to airlift the family to safety. With a team investigating the outbreak to find a cure, Gerry is forced to offer his services and is sent on a globe-trotting mission to find the source of the disease. Leaving his family on board a military aircraft carrier, Gerry heads off with a small team to start an investigation before it's too late for humanity.

Reports on the budget for World War Z vary wildly, with some publications claiming the flick cost up to $400 million, a staggering sum for a motion picture that looks like it was produced for about a quarter of that amount. Of course, one has to consider that about 40 minutes of the film were outright abandoned in post-production, prompting Paramount and Pitt's production company Plan B to splash out more money to have an entirely new third act written and filmed. The script is still marred by problematic aspects despite all the reshuffling, though. For starters, it's never clear why Gerry's former boss wants him, as he only has a vaguely defined background, and the script lacks meaty character development. Moreover, World War Z fails to explore the intriguing philosophical questions of what happens when society breaks down. To its credit, the script does not turn Gerry into a superhuman, though credulity is stretched when he and one of his comrades are the sole survivors of a plane crash.

Brooks' novel was more or less a satire of today's post-9/11 anxiety and America's foreign policy, and it was told from multiple perspectives without a central protagonist, making it suitable fodder for a television miniseries as opposed to a feature film. The adapted screenplay for World War Z (which was famously written and rewritten by at least half a dozen people) disposes of the satiric slant as well as the multiple perspectives, turning the source material into a simple blockbuster about Gerry and his wife and kids. Following brisk introductory time with the Lane family, the outbreak begins, and the rest of World War Z becomes a succession of set-pieces. Hence, while the book resembled Steven Soderbergh's Contagion, director Marc Forster's film is more like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds. That said, though, World War Z really soars in its final act when we get into reshoot territory. The seams of the reshoots are visible if you look for them, yet the movie actually gels, with the rewriting (courtesy of Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard) resulting not in an idiotic action climax but an intelligent, taut and tense finale more focused on character dynamics and stealth than endless zombie killing.

The biggest issue with World War Z is director Forster. In the hands of a superior craftsman, the film could've soared to unimaginable heights, but Forster is not cut out for helming blockbusters. Although a handful of action beats do work, multiple sequences are marred by hideous shaky-cam and frenetic editing, turning potentially exhilarating set-pieces into incoherent jumbles. At times, it's difficult to discern the geography of various scenes. However, the camera movement fortunately settles down in the final act, exhibiting evidence that Forster may have indeed been fired (though I can only speculate on the matter) and replaced with a more patient filmmaker. The rest of the picture's technical specs are impressive, with a particularly propulsive score, and the performances across the board are strong. Pitt is the heart of the movie. Having produced the film as well, it's clear that Pitt actually cares here, resulting in one of his most focused performances in a blockbuster to date. He works well as an Everyman, and it's a nicely grounded turn that gives the picture a welcome degree of humanity.

Unfortunately, no matter how you cut it, you simply cannot win with a PG-13 zombie flick, and the docile rating takes its toll on World War Z. The camera awkwardly shies away from capturing the attacks while several wounds are bewilderingly downplayed. A severed hand produces about as much blood as a paper cut, and Gerry forgets to bleed when a piece of shrapnel pierces him. Since these are not "classical" zombies, excessive gore was not necessary, but it is idiotic for R-rated content like major wounds to be watered down. (The unrated extended cut is the superior way to experience the movie.) Do it properly, or not at all. Worse, the walking dead are digital here, denying a tangible quality to make them believable. At times, the CGI does its job well enough, but at other times, it's distractingly obvious, in need of the practical make-up effects that have served the genre well for so long. Also missing is a sense of awe and loss. We see people getting killed, but we don't feel affected by it, and there aren't any moments to give you goosebumps. It's all a bit middle-of-the-road.

Fortunately, the makers took no chances with sequel prospects, leaving room for a possible sequel but not foolishly hedging their bets by closing on a cliffhanger. Hence, the story is wrapped up in a satisfying enough fashion, but more can be done in the potential franchise if this hugely expensive investment pays off for the studio. At the end of the day, World War Z is okay; not great, but by no means horrible. There's nothing here that hasn't been done better before - the science stuff was much more substantive in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the fast zombies were more terrifying in 28 Days Later - yet it remains solid on its own terms. World War Z is not exactly cohesive since it begins as a frenetic actioner before transitioning into a patient thriller, but it comes together in an entertaining enough fashion, which may seem like a hollow victory, but it's more than most of us expected.

6.3/10