World War Z
Director: Mark Forster
By Alex Watson
When a zombie movie rolls into view we always expect the usual things to be included and those things are plenty of suspense, buckets of gore as the people fight back against the living dead and most importantly a touch of humour that did film such as Shaun of the Dead so well. This week American director Marc Forster brings us Brad Pitt trying in vain to save the world from another deadly infestation in his adaptation of Max Brook’s novel, World War Z.
Retired UN Investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is looking forward to a nice holiday with his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and two kids. But when they are stuck in traffic, a sudden zombie epidemic breaks out forcing them to run for their lives! Soon the devastation becomes worldwide and the existence of the human race is under threat. Gerry heads to Asia in search of a cure but he remains nervous about the results he will find and most of all is there any cure to this spreading disease?
While it has its splendid moments of shock and provides great entertainment, World War Z is a film that doesn’t quite hit the mark that we expected. It begins smartly and rather than follow tradition with an overly long build up, Forster chooses to jump straight into the action with the Zombies attacking on a normal day and families run for dear life along the streets of Philadelphia! This presents us with a thrilling opening sequence where the tension is pushed to maximum as Gerry and family play hide and seek through a darkened corridor as the moans the Z-men echo creepily in the background!
But while it has many immense moments that make squirm in our seats (such as when Gerry forgets to turn his phone off while trying to sneak through a zombie filled zone) and our hearts are bound to stop numerous times, the story doesn’t quite have enough to carry the movie and seems a little to concern with Gerry’s investigation and despite a mildly interesting trip to Israel where microphone singing refugees the scenes where he travels to various locations present us with interesting facts but ultimately will leave die hard horror fans a little disappointed with the lack of combat involved or more likely the lack of Zombie related attacks.
Also the ending we are presented with is a little flat on the ground, it starts well enough as Gerry and co face terror on an economy flight and literally becomes the man who fell to earth, and as our group walks yet another corridor looking for the thing that could cure us, it promises something grandstand. But sadly its resolution will leave many wishing aharder tone had been used and its voiceover leaves the door open for a likely sequel.
Brad Pitt is his usual watchable self in this film and he brings a touch of class to World War Z as die-hard family man Gerry, but this isn’t a role that truly stretches his abilities and feels like a walk in the park for talented Pitt. But he holds the screen well and proves once more he can be the best thing about any film he is involved with.
Aside from Brad, there are no other characters that really stick in the mind and Mireille Enos once again gets short changed in the underused wife role which simply requires her to answer a phone from time to time. There are also blink and miss appearances from Matthew Fox, James Badge Dale and criminally David Morse, whose cameo as a strung out CIA man has the potential to be as creepy as the zombies, but tragically he’s gone too soon!
Although World War Z doesn’t quite match the gritty expectations its excellent advertising campaign brought us, it is still a pleasurable couple of hours and will guarantee you to leave your seat more than once! If the proposed sequel ever arrives, we can only hope it will bring us more war scenes than on display here- the world is waiting for you to save us Brad!
Closer to the Edge 