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.

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.

I'm generally not a fan of zombie movies, not because I don't like them but rather because they seem to easily have an effect on me, chilling me to the bone and staying with me for days (no walking into dark rooms for me). As a result I put off watching World War Z but I was still interested in seeing such a big budget zombie film. The plot sees some form of outbreak and, well, you know what happens. No sooner has Gerry Lane rescued his family from one city, than he is rescued by his old UN employers who want him to help lead a mission to try and find a solution by escorting a doctor to South Korea. No pressure, but the space for his family in safe haven does rely on him saying "yes".

After some very brief character establishment (references to "old job", happy family image etc), we get the first of many set-pieces as an outbreak sweeps across the city and, like many of the set-pieces, it is pretty good stuff. There is plenty of money on the table, lots going on and the scale of it all is suitable for a plot about a global outbreak. The problem is that it never really feels like more than this and the bits in between are not great. The biggest criticism that I can offer is that it did nothing to be other than make me watch the noisy scenes in the way I would with any big blockbuster – and I remind you that I am normally chilled by zombie movies. Here I felt that apart from once or twice, it didn't really do the tension or the horror well, it almost felt too slick, too expensive.

To give a contrast, an outbreak in a closed car park in 28 Weeks Later was really horrific to me (in a good way) but here the one on a plane didn't bring that same feeling. It is hard for me to put my finger on it, but for sure something was missing here. The plot doesn't help – jumping around the world without much linkage and asking the viewer to just go with it; perhaps I would if I had cared more, but everyone apart from Brad Pitt seemed so disposable – just fodder for the attack shots, so I did get numb and also feel remote from it all. Technically it is great and it really is well shot and put together, but it is just the lack of atmosphere that hurts it the most.

It is a big expensive movie though and as a blockbuster it works well enough to give it a go, but it really never works in the ways that would have made it a much superior film.

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.

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.