The actor battles zombies in the much buzzed about adaptation of Max Brooks’ beloved novel.
by Joe BardiI have not read Max Brooks novel World War Z, an omission that I believe greatly enhanced my enjoyment of it’s film adaptation. The book’s great from what I hear, which will render all the changes to the material (most of the plot and story of the book has been jettisoned, leaving only the title and genre intact) a major annoyance to existing fans. I am not one, nor am I a fan of the zombie genre in general. Oh, I like both the original Dawn of the Dead and it’s Zack Snyder remake, and Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive is great, too, but I’m not a Walking Dead devotee, nor can I talk at length about the work of George Romero.
So now that the geeks have tuned out and it’s just us regular folks, I can tell you that World War Z provides a tense, suspenseful trip to the multiplex. This could have been Brad Pitt’s Waterloo, and after reports of massive reshoots and budget overruns, and a Christmas 2012 release date that was overshot by six months, it seemed likely that the film would be a failure. It isn’t, and that’s largely a credit to Pitt’s natural charisma as an actor, and an ability to wield his star power in making tough decisions that ultimately contributed to a better film.
Pitt stars as Gerry Lane, a retired U.N. investigator who just wants to spend more time with his wife (Mireille Enos) and two daughters. One unexpected zombie apocalypse later, Lane is pressed back into service by a U.N. higher-up (Fana Mokoena) who promises to keep his family safe if Gerry plays ball and leads the search for a way to beat back the humanity-threatening plague. What’s a devoted family man to do?
World War Z globetrots from Philly to South Korea, Israel, the U.K. and more, always downplaying the violence and gore in favor of creating suspenseful sequences punctuated by bravura shots of zombie carnage (most of which are in the preview, sadly) that will keep the audience on edge. Fans of the genre have come to expect twisted and graphic zombie death scenes, but WWZ skips the grotesqueness in favor of good old-fashioned tension. After a season of non-stop explosions and fighting bludgeoning moviegoers, there’s something refreshing about a flick that takes a few moments, slows things down and builds a scene to a satisfying release.
WWZ still has it’s problems, of course. For one, they never really figured out a satisfying ending. The movie wraps itself up neatly, and the third act, which takes place in offices of the World Health Organization (the majority of the reshoots, I’m guessing) is well done and fun. But the attempt at franchise building is a little too transparent for my taste. Even so, I’ll gladly check out another installment. I feel like there’s a lot more story to tell. Maybe next time they’ll even use some of that Max Brooks’ book I keep hearing so much about.