World War Z

I skipped this when it came out because I was sick of the Zombie theme. This one intrigued me because it was written by Mel Brooks' son, Max; however, not enough to watch it. I was wrong. It is good because it is an action film first, and a Zombie film second. Brad Pitt is very good as an agent living a normal life until the crisis calls him out of his retirement. The cinematography is way too shaky for me and that is my major criticism of the visuals in the movie. The script, dialogue, plot, acting , and directing are all very good. I like this one and it stands out in the swarm of Zombie films.

I recently re-watched this movie. I had forgotten how good it is. Unlike most zombie movies that tend to focus on a small, isolated group under threat. Typically, one or more of this group are mentally unhinged which adds to the suspense, but that set up has been a cliche for decades now.

WWZ takes the opposite approach. It takes the mile high view through the eyes of one scientist, who travels the globe trying to solve the dilemma.

The action pieces are imaginative and large scale. Interestingly, the final sequence is scaled right back down to the handful of isolated people for contrast.

It's interesting to read of all the behind-the-scenes troubles that plagued the making of this movie. In spite of it all, it all came together to create a very gritty and entertaining movie.

I would like to see a sequel to this movie. Pitt's character could put in an appearance, but it could be about a completely new group of people. This movie certainly left that possibility open, but it doesn't look like it's ever going to happen.

The world descends into the zombie apocalypse. There is some sort of virus and bitten people are turned into violent creatures. Former UN investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is caught up with his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and family. They manage to escape and Gerry is put to work on finding the origins of the outbreak. This Brad Pitt showcase has many good points. My only main complaint is the PG13 rating which imposes the cartoon zombie action rather than a gore bloody fare.

The action starts right away within 10min. There's no need to misunderstand what this movie is. It's simply a popcorn movie. Although unlike other post-apocalyptic movie, there isn't the standard eerie empty city scenes. The zombie mystery is investigated in a Bond movie fashion. Brad Pitt travels all around the world following leads. It's actually easy to follow and really compelling. It has a good tension filled horror aspect. It's not all big action. You also get good scary parts with dark hallways and stalking dangers.

Let me start off by saying I haven't read the book yet, so I have no idea how they compare. However, this was a pretty good movie overall. Many zombie movies are merely mindless gore and violence disguised within some fragile thing that doesn't even deserve to be called a plot. However, World War Z has a much better plot than most other zombie movies. One thing I noticed right away is that this movie actually made me jump in surprise several times. It's very suspenseful, and truly worthy of being called a "zombie horror movie," as opposed to the plethora of predictable, unsuspenseful zombie movies that have come out of Hollywood. Brad Pitt does a great job in his role, although I felt his character lacked definition in many ways. It would be nice if they had "fleshed out" the characters a bit more.

Overall, this movie is definitely worth the watch if you have a couple hours to spare. Not the best movie ever made, but a pretty good one.

Considering what is happening in the world today, this film takes on a different meaning for me, all the more so because both in the book and in the original version of the script the epidemic has its origin in China not to mention the North Korean thread, which is becoming particularly ominous.