Courtesy of Paramount |
First,
the good news: the new zombie flick starring Brad Pitt is nowhere near the
train wreck its troubled production history suggested it might be. Instead, the
film (very loosely based on the popular book by Max Brooks) is a serviceable
action thriller with some stunning set pieces and a slightly disappointing
third act. Not the greatest movie ever made, but far from the worst. How’s that
for a ringing endorsement?
Pitt
plays Gerry Lane, a former United Nations employee tasked with tracking down a
solution to a worldwide pandemic that has transformed most of the population
into zombies. He refuses at first, like any rational-thinking family man in the
middle of a terrifying crisis. Then he’s informed that taking the job is the
only way his wife (Mireille Enos) and daughters get to stay onboard an aircraft
carrier parked in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
No
chance of zombies making it out there, but the family being relocated to an
overcrowded refugee camp is practically a death sentence. With no other choice,
Gerry is soon on his way to South Korea in an attempt to locate Patient Zero.
The global scavenger hunt eventually sends him to Israel, Wales and Nova Scotia
– while outrunning hordes of mercilessly fast monsters – before the movie ends
with an awkward stopgap measure and a bland voiceover setting up a sequel.
Genre-hopping
director Marc Forster (who also helmed the excellent Finding Neverland and
the disappointing Quantum of Solace) stages some heart-pounding action
sequences, including the opening attack on Philadelphia and the stunning destruction
of Jerusalem. He also manages to keep World War Z together – just barely –
when it threatens to fall apart after the plane crash that kicks off the third
act.
It’s
no secret that the film underwent major script revisions and reshoots in the
middle of production, but the list of prominent screenwriters involved (Matthew
Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, Damon Lindelof and J. Michael Straczynski)
should give it away if you haven’t been paying attention. If that doesn’t do
the trick, you’ll figure it out when the flick’s scale shrinks from international
destruction to three people trying to sneak down a dark hallway. Suddenly, it feels
like you’re watching somebody else play a really exciting video game.
As
for the cast, nobody’s playing a fully-formed, three-dimensional character. World
War Z is being marketed as “watch Brad Pitt run from zombies,” and that’s
exactly what you get. Forster casts a number of solid character actors (James
Badge Dale, David Morse, Peter Capaldi) to pick up the slack, but none of them
are onscreen long enough to make a lasting impression. Enos is mostly wasted as
the worried wife, one of the biggest victims of the new ending. (The other is
Matthew Fox, who has about three lines as a helicopter pilot.)
World
War Z has a number of problems, but it’s still tense and entertaining enough
to recommend. It’s like someone watched Steven Soderbergh’s excellent Contagion
and decided to remake it with zombies instead of the superflu.
World War Z is rated
PG-13 for intense frightening zombie sequences, violence and disturbing images.
Grade:
B-
Wow, B minus seems generous for something that completely ran over, backed up, and ran over again the inspiration for this movie (the book it was titled after).
ReplyDeleteHowever, judging by reviews of the book, it would make a better miniseries than a movie.
but hey, it's got Brad Pitt...