Like every zombie pandemic movie ever, but not classic or humorous.
"World War Z" follows Gerry Lane as he struggles to protect his family in the midst of a vicious pandemic that transforms the world's population into vicious, man-eating beasts. So nothing new there. Brad Pitt stars as Gerry, who is forced to step back into his old job as a vaguely-identified "investigator" for the UN to attempt to track down the source of the infection. Gerry travels around the world to discover the cause of the zombie apocalypse while trying to keep himself and his family alive.
I didn't like this movie that much. It may seem like I'm discussing my feelings on the film too early, but at least I presented an entire paragraph worth of supplementary information before doing so. I cannot say the same for "World War Z." The movie starts off with a series of vague newspaper headings and news reports discussing outbreaks of rabies and infections around the world before the title screen is shown. The footage then rapidly cuts to an innocent suburban family scene with Gerry Lane and his wife being awoken early in the morning by their two rambunctious young daughters. The children then immediately demand pancakes, which Gerry happily makes for them as the family goes about its morning business. They then proceed out to the streets to contend with early morning traffic.
This is approximately 90 seconds into the movie. The family is playing 20 questions in the car and just generally doing their damnedest to be adorable. However, outside, things are starting to look vaguely threatening. Traffic is backed up for miles and people are beginning to run down the sidewalk for reasons that are not apparent even to them. A police officer in a motorcycle rushes past the car and takes off Gerry's side-view mirror to general confusion. As Gerry steps outside and has a brief conversation with a fellow commuter, it becomes apparent that nobody has any fucking clue what is going on.
Not to be deterred by a complete lack of foreshadowing outside of the opening credits, the movie barrels down the tracks full speed and the city is overtaken. A random explosion caused by nothing is seen in the distance and a police officer orders Gerry back into his car and is immediately pulverized by a runaway truck. The truck, either driven by a zombie or driven by some dumb ass freaking out at the extremely early stages of apocalypse, then proceeds to tear through dozens of cars and human lives, clearing a path for Gerry and his family to escape from the debilitating traffic jam. The family crashes and forced to continue on foot as hundreds of people are already infected and taking down civilians.
This is about seven minutes into the movie. Come on, Hollywood, give me some foreplay for God's sake.
The movie progresses as rapidly as the imagined virus does: overly fast, without direction, and poorly executed. The action sequences are tense and engaging, but I found myself caring less and less as the film progressed. Gerry attempts to follow a trail of clues that leads him from an aircraft carrier off the American coast to South Korea, where the dumbest scene in the movie occurs.
In the plane headed to South Korea, where the virus possibly began, Gerry speaks with the leading virologist in charge of studying the pandemic. This guy is a fucking creep. He gives Gerry a three-and-a-half minute diatribe on the methods used by "Mother Nature" to attack the human race. He grins from ear to ear describing Mother Nature as the greatest serial killer. Really? As if a large majority of biological terrors on the planet were not invented and manipulated. by humans for the purpose of murdering millions of other humans. Psychopathic rant on how "Mother Nature is a bitch that loooooooves disguising her weaknesses as strengths" aside, the young Frankenstein doesn't turn out to be much of a scientist. The dumbest scene in the movie is set: the plane lands on a runway in South Korea, the night is dark and stained with pouring rain. The door underneath the rear end of the plane descends to the ground, releasing soldiers who stand ready to defend Gerry and the virologist from zombies. They mostly fail at this task, and one of the trained and experienced soldiers is easily murdered by a single zombie. The scientist, frightened by the combat, runs back up the ramp which, despite being UNDERNEATH an entire plane, is suddenly slick with rainwater. He falls and consequently shoots himself in the head with his own gun. So dies humanity's last hope.
Gerry quickly recovers from this minor setback, continuing the investigation with no former knowledge of virology, traveling from Korea to Israel and eventually to an WHO where the climax of the movie takes place. While the ending to "World War Z" is more original than the paths most zombie infection movies take, it cannot make up for the fact that the movie is disjointed and dysfunctional, the plot line is as thin and wavering as a kite string, and action sequences fall flat when there is little engaging storytelling to hang them on.
Additionally, I found that the zombies, being completely CGI failed to have any weight or realism in their actions. Despite the clear violence and aggression shown by the individuals in the mob, the mob itself seems like less of an inevitable force and more like a pile of nearly-liquid rag dolls being rolled down a hill. Also, the developmental hell and multiple rewrites and reworkings that the story underwent was extremely apparent in the viewing.
For disengaged storytelling and poor execution, I give "World War Z" a ranking of Avoid It. While mildly interesting at times, the movie just overall fails to properly convey a cohesive message to the audience. Not worth the time lost or the price of admission.
Until next time, what are your thoughts on the movie? I love to hear the opinions!
-kmaker
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