In many ways, World War Z follows what has become the standard of zombie plot lines recently: man seems to be running normal life, man's home/city/country is the victim of a zombie outbreak, man survives, outbreak threatens to bring down society as we know it. However, instead of spending the rest of his life trying to merely survive, this time our hero calls upon his experience as a U.N. investigator to hunt out a solution to the pandemic, travelling around the globe to gather information vital to the survival of the human race.
Our hero in this instance, happens to be Brad Pitt, who plays Gerry Lane, the aforementioned ex-U.N. investigator, now fully fledged family man. You know you're always going to get a solid performance from Pitt, and this is no difference; he brings his usual easiness to the action-filled zombie apocalypse, with the added softness required for a man who knows he's doing his duty with his family in mind, a reluctant, yet stoic hero indeed. And while it's not unfair to say that Pitt really is the star of the film, his supporting cast help the story along well, albeit it in fleeting appearances. Daniella Kertesz fills a pleasing role as Israeli soldier Segen, who essentially becomes Lane's sidekick, a skull-busting, bite-risking amazonian of a woman, who you get the impression could survive the end of days all on her own. Pierfrancesco Favino takes on the part of a World Health Organization researcher who also takes on a reluctant hero role in the film, and gives a convincing performance as a man brought to the very bottom by the world crumbling around him. Oh, and there's a bizarre yet very much enjoyable turn up for The Thick Of It star, Peter Capaldi, as another WHO researcher, just to throw you off a little.
The CGI is, unfortunately, something of a love-hate feature of this film. When we get up close and personal with the zombies, they're fairly impressive, and at the very least menacing. The citywide scenes of destruction are something to behold as well, and successfully fill the audience with a sense of menace and dread at just how quickly the outbreak takes hold of civilisation. However, I found the scenes involving the zombies as a hoard to be extremely disappointing. Whilst impressed at the scale with which the undead maraud their way through a city, the speed of them is simply flat out unbelievable. And I say that knowing full well that this is a film wherein the dead are rising up and eating people. They are jerky, they are fast, but simply too fast to be taken seriously. It reminded me sadly of the 2008 inspired by/remake of Day Of The Dead, wherein the zombies would inexplicably speed up, as if someone had just pressed 'fast-foward', and looked utterly ridiculous. Now I get that we are supposed to be looking at this as a way of saying that this virus breaks us down into something not human, something totally animal and something of near hive mind; but instead of making a clear social statement, the use of over-the-top CGI leaves you looking at the film unable to immerse yourself in the situation. The tension is so much more effective when in close quarters with the zombies, which, unfortunately, does not happen often enough.
I may be being harsh here, as, after all, this is a film about the bigger picture of a zombie outbreak, and is rumoured to be only the first of perhaps three films, but it leaves us a little confused. There are a few close call scenes with a not-so-vast amount of zombies, and those work very well. But then again, there are full on sieges of hoards taking cities, and whilst the point is there, it gets somewhat lost as it all happens a little too quickly. Again, this could be a point director Marc Forster was trying to get across (just how rapid the outbreak takes hold), but with a confused swapping between bigger battles and frantic one-on-one moments, we never really know how to feel. Ultimately, I truly hope the ambiguous ending of the film is simply a bridge to a sequel, as I feel this has serious potential, however, as a stand-alone effort, I couldn't help feeling disappointed when the conclusion arrived.
3/5 - It had it's moments, and was enjoyable, without being particularly engaging. It's difficult to get close to the benchmark met by either 28 Days Later or The Walking Dead when it comes to the big scale zombie ponderer, and even more so to get anywhere near the Romero standard of immediate danger, but this film had some way to go. I'm a huge fan of the novel, and I really do hope more is made in any sequels, preferably by following the model of survival accounts from around the world, as opposed to one man saving the world.
P.S.
The product placement is pretty hilarious.
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