A Write Teacher(s) Review: WORLD WAR Z

Hello Friends, 

As WORLD WAR Z came to a close, as the credits began to roll and the theater lights illuminated, two things immediately came to mind: 1) It was absolutely nothing like the book, and 2) I didn’t really mind because it was actually a relatively decent zombie flick.

Now settle down all you rabid fanboys and purists out there, don’t get your Lucio Fulci underoos all up in a bunch just yet. The review’s only just begun.

Truth is I’m a huge fan of the film’s source material (a term I use lightly in this scenario… very lightly), Max Brooks’ fantastic book of the same name. A colleague had introduced it to me one slow day in a faculty room some four or five years ago. She knew all too well of my penchant for good literature, history, and zombie movies, so when something came along that encompassed all three in such an effective manner, she knew it’d be right up my alley.

And it was.

I devoured its pages like Tarman chowing down on that rude punk-rocker’s bald dome. And throughout the years I’ve gone back for seconds, and thirds, and then some. To this day, it remains in my top ten favorite books. Easily. So suffice to say, I’m quite a fan. I’m also quite well versed in it. Just as I am with horror movies.

As somewhat stated previously, I’m a huge fan of horror. Most notably zombie films. In fact, I believe I had seen all of George A. Romero’s original Trilogy of the Dead by the tender age of six (which is what typically happens when your mom, a fellow horror movie fanatic, raises you on cinematic blood and guts), which left an Americana mythos of the undead about as ingrained in my young, fledgling mind as my A, B, C’s and 1, 2, 3’s.

… I’m not kidding.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Right about now you’re probably asking yourself why you should care about any of this, or what it has to do with a review of WORLD WAR Z. Well, friends, it has everything to do with it. I promise.

You see, I’m telling you all this to establish my credentials on the matter. To let you know that I know what I’m talking about, and that everything I’m about to say hereafter comes with roughly three decades of literary and zombie experience. And what I’m about to say is that WORLD WAR Z is a pretty damn decent movie.

Is it as good as the book? Absolutely not. In fact, as stated previously, it’s nothing like the book. One is an epic sociological take on the human condition and its direct reaction to a zombie apocalypse, and the other is a Brad Pitt vehicle created to cash in on modern-day zombie-mania (but don’t let that deter you from seeing it, it really is better than that assessment suggests). You might as well as consider them two entirely different entities that happen to share the same name.

And that’s essentially the only way for any fan of the book to enjoy this film. By forgetting about the book entirely. Forgetting the book entirely and letting go of pretentiousness and simply allowing themselves to be immersed into nearly two hours of optical zombie fun. Unfortunately, though, we all know how unlikely that is to actually happen. How unlikely it is for any fanboy or purist to come into anything with an open mind when they feel as though something they love has been unjustly defiled.

So instead of trying to assure them that the mere existence of this film will not ruin their lives, and that their cereal will still tastes exactly the same come morning, perhaps it’s just easier to focus on what they’ll all be missing. Both the good and the bad.

The plot itself is pretty generic as far as Hollywood typically goes. There’s a massive outbreak of [something] wreaking havoc on mankind, and only one man, a retired UN field expert played by Pitt, has the experience and know-how to stop it. But whereas most zombie stories tend to revolve around a handful of eclectic characters stuck in claustrophobic settings and forced to unite under duress, WORLD WAR Z takes a completely different approach.

The film follows Pitt as he traverses the globe, seeking to trace the pandemic back to its roots in search of a cure. In doing so, though, viewers are treated to an assortment of remarkable on-location sets, spanning several countries. This takes the mortal peril of undead attacks out of the basements and shopping malls predominantly utilized in nearly every previous zombie flick, and places it directly into the vast openness of the real world around us, creating a truly global threat.

And that threat is only amplified all the more by the dark mood and ambiance present throughout the film, especially in the first half. Directly contrasting the unprecedented global scale, the cliché tight corners and faintly lit hallways are there as well, successfully creating an environment such terror thrives in. And while the public-friendly PG-13 rating does hinder the amount of actual zombie action and gore true fans of the genre covet, the overall feeling of suspense does not suffer at all. After all, that which we don’t see is typically what we fear most.

There’s not much to say about the cast, as it’s typically just Pitt and his interactions with a variety of different characters coming in and out of the plot in serial fashion. Pitt, himself, neither flails nor shines in his portrayal of an everyman, as he basically just is. Having said that, however, the love shared between he and his onscreen family is very believable, as mostly evident in the chemistry shared with costar Mireille Enos.
… although this may be attributed to the fact that she got to pretend to be married to Brad freakin’ Pitt for a little while, seeing as in real life she is married to this.
Also, keep an eye out for Matthew Fox who has a relatively small role as a soldier. For some reason. Like real small. Like he’s only credited a parajumper. And is on-screen for like a total of seven minutes. Maybe eight?

Dream big, Matthew. Dream big.

The movie’s biggest stars, the zombies, are pretty effective overall, especially earlier in the film. They’re quite grotesque in appearance, moan and groan like someone at the very end of a long DMV line, and have very jarring movements. They run (which people nowadays seem to either like or really, really, really hate) and commit collectively to enormously large pile-ons, which make them all the more frightenly unstoppable. For the most part they’re portrayed quite well… that is until the last quarter of the movie, when they all inexplicably start behaving like the raptors in JURASSIC PARK.
… you’ll know exactly what I mean when you see it. Trust me.

The conclusion felt a bit rushed and cheesy for an assortment of reasons, all of which are apparently a result of last-minute reshoots and script changes, and not just the fault of the newly introduced veloci-zombies. This, compounded by a very unnecessary narration playing over a plethora of closure images (infuriating seeing as the film didn’t start with a narrator… but who cares about continuity, right?), left a momentary bad taste in my mouth.

But not for long.

Because upon reflection I realized that it was still a pretty decent movie. Sure, it trailed off as it went along. And, sure, it was lacking pivotal elements of the book like the ‘Lobo’ and/or Battle of Yonkers (even though either would have surely jeopardized any chance of a PG-13 rating). But it was still entertaining. It still made laugh and jump, and remember why I love zombie movies so much in the first place.

Because, remember: just because something’s not a mirror reflection of its original source, doesn’t automatically make it bad. And just because brains are being eaten, doesn’t automatically make something mindless. But pompously judging something based on nothing more than preconceived notions? That’s both bad and mindless.

Final Verdict: 3 out of 5 juicy, juicy braaaaaaaaaaaaaaains.

Live, Love, Learn,

Steven &