World War Z
Director: Marc Forster
Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Matthew Fox, and James Badge Dale.
Rated PG-13 for intense frightening zombie sequences, violence and disturbing images.
Brad Pitt vs Zombies?!?! I never thought I'd live to see the day. Zombies have been all the rage lately, especially with the hit tv series The Walking Dead on AMC. But if you're looking for that type of zombie entertainment then Marc Forster's World War Z may not be for you. Based on the widely popular novel by Max Brooks (FYI Mel's son), WWZ gives us a zombie thriller that treats the genre as a worldwide epidemic as opposed to a horror gorefest, which I believe is all for good.
This movie has had its share of production delays and script rewrites which usually spells out disaster for a movie, but Brad Pitt stuck with the project as a producer and never lost faith in it. Despite the production set backs, World War Z delivers a truly entertaining and suspenseful film. Brad Pitt deserves a lot of praise for not only carrying the film with his gifts as an actor, but also with his determination and resolve as a producer.
The film opens with Gerry (Pitt) making pancakes for his two little girls and wife. He is a retired United Nations Investigator who is happy with his new life as a dedicated husband and father. Within a matter of ten minutes, Gerry and his family are stuck in Philadelphia traffic when all hell breaks loose when seemingly possessed hordes of people start attacking others and biting them. Gerry is able to find shelter, get in touch with his UN contacts, and arrange for him and his family to seek refuge on an aircraft carrier. In order for his family to stay there, Gerry must agree to travel the globe in hopes of discovering the origin of the zombie virus so that a vaccination can be made.
I will admit that I am a fan of The Walking Dead. It has had some great characterization over the past few seasons and it amps up zombie gore like never before. The violence on that show is extremely graphic and often excessive. WWZ has a different agenda and that is evident in its PG-13 rating. Most of the zombie violence is kept off camera which may anger those die hard zombie fans, but this is a movie more concerned with creating intense and suspenseful moments than squirting blood all over the screen.
WWZ is a refreshing take on a somewhat exhausted genre. There are genuinely intense moments throughout the film, particularly during the final thirty minutes. There isn't a whole lot of characterization going on that could have contributed to the dramatic parts of the film, and the CGI hordes of zombies are obviously fake, but overall this is an entertaining summer blockbuster that delivers on thrills.
RATING: B+
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