World War Z - Movie Review

So what did i think about World War Z? Well that is a tough question to answer as i left the theater with largely mixed feelings. But then again i entered the theater expecting a largely generic film which would make use of outdated concepts for an outdated brand of the horror genre, so i guess my respect for the film was at the least elevated when i left.


The film follows the story of 'Gerry' an ex military type who is apparently only good for making pancakes, which we come to believe through his rather unrealistic portrayal of a typical American father up until the point where he starts calling upon his military skills to bash the shit out of zombies.
The character transition between everyday family man to all on all pro of zombie apocalypse survival is completely non-existent which makes for a displacing feeling later on in the film when he seems to spend half his time surrounded by soldiers.

This is explained by his back story mostly throughout the mid section of the film, but a back story is only helpful when backed up by some form of real time evidence, like a flashback for example. How can we as the viewer be expected to enthrall ourselves in the contents of 'Gerry's' seemingly gritty CV when that entire aspect of his character takes place off camera? Some movies can do much the same thing and get away with it, but with this many of the key characters as in some way associated to it, and involved with 'Gerry' as a result of his past. This makes for confusing character placement and led to me spending half of my time trying to understand why our protagonist, who was supposedly a family man, was getting calls from government officials for no reason. What? I am supposed to understand the motivation for such contact just because "for old times sake" was seamlessly wived into the dialog?
As for the rest of the core cast, all of the characters are forgettable and seem to in some cases just be there for the sake of camera filling. Throughout the entire movie characters are introduced as parts of core story elements and then almost immediately dismissed. There is absolutely zero chance of relating to any of the characters as the only ones who stick around who aren't soldiers are 'Gerry's' family, who are more annoying due to their bad acting than engaging.
Building on this much of the characterization seems to be placed to specially shape the films direction, as we are introduced to our protagonist who is the typical every day civilian up until the mid section of the film where his back story doesn't seem like its being explained by a Scotsman trying to speak Japanese.
It puts us in the mindset that we are about to watch a story of one mans experience through a zombie outbreak, like Zombieland only without the critical humor. But then the film mostly revolves around stereotypical soldiers with big guns, turning our perception around to the film being more about the global effort against a zombie outbreak rather than the individual who makes no impact. Its a real mind fuck to see the film change its face like that and seems way too broken for it to have been on purpose. Though this is small to a typical audience its something that you need to consider when treading into a zombie story.

As for the plot, it seems to make no sense throughout the majority of the film. Brad Pitt; as our shiny family man 'Gerry', is called in by the remains of the US government because of his military

background, to help a scientist solve the mystery of the zombie outbreak, starting by going to its supposed origin point North Korea, oh what a surprise shouted EVERYONE EVER. But when they arrive they seem to achieve nothing other than the scientist tripping over and shooting himself a few minutes after landing, and showcasing how every zombie in Korea isn't actually Korean, and therefore bad casting.
From then onward the story seems to go nowhere significant, simply following a hazy trail of mysteries that no one would give the time of day to in real life, only to discover that the real answer to stopping the zombies wasn't actually anything to do with the investigation that sent 'Gerry' flying all over the globe. Gerry notices the solution by chance through a number of odd occurrences that he witnesses on his travels, and then tests his theory with one big life threatening risk at the end, like we didn't see that coming. But i must admit that from that from the point where he notices the solution onward the story is fantastic as it differs from the typical 'zombie formula'. Man goes on dangerous quest to find cure. That is how is starts, but then it evolves and becomes something different and even gives a reason if you are intelligent enough to see it as to why the film is called 'World War Z'. And in a way the films seemingly pointless events throughout most of its run time do contain at least two hints that i saw about what the overall plot twist is. These hints are to the film what an Easter egg is to a game, only there for small satisfaction, but are appreciated simply for what they are.

By the end of the film you come to like the premise and therefore you seem to glorify the overall experience despite its poor execution. And if nothing else the film succeeds with its wall to wall action which though typical, seems to keep you on the edge of your seat as you know that if Gerry dies, his family will be kicked off of the American Ark of salvation...an aircraft carrier. That little addition to the formula gives the intense action reasoning and therefore a reason for me to enjoy it without having to walk away feeling filthy for being so easily impressed. But then that is killed when Gerry's family are kicked off and end up basically fine.
Which leads me to my point of how the film can never seem to get two things right at the same time, nor sustain them for a significant duration of run time. But in the end, it does at least get them right so in some way credit is due for the originality that it brings to the table.

Even if you aren't perceptive or even enthusiastic enough to notice all of this you will still find a reason to walk out of the theater engaged in debate about it with your friends, because its a zombie film and that is what happens when you watch a zombie film. Though its something that is REALLY over done it is just that because of its mass popularity, people go mad for this stuff. I sat there and through parts of the film and got frustrated with Gerry's actions just because of how i knew that they were stupid things to do in a zombie apocalypse, and at other points admired his actions because of how smart they were. Its calls out the inner 'know it all' from the audience to at least give us something to talk about when we leave.

By the end of the film i cant say it will make it onto my movie library, but it has faced me with the question of whether the producers and writers of the film are just lucky, or geniuses. And still, anything is better than After Earth.

By Benjamin McGinn