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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.
8/10
