World War Z Review

‘’World War Z’’, based on the novel by Max Brooks is the latest in a long line of zombie apocalypse films that takes on a more straightforward focus. Apart from a few missteps it’s a solid film that fits the bill as a summer blockbuster.

The movie follows the struggles of Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family among many other survivors who flee the biggest cities of the world to escape hordes of fast and vicious infected. Gerry’s previous experience in the United Nations makes him a priority in the fight against the infection and from here the plot jumps from country to country as Gerry desperately searches for a cure. Similar to many zombie films the cause of the infection is never known and the film dives headfirst into the chaos that results; it’s been a constant trait of the sub-genre over the years and it works well again here, helping to create a sense of mystery as to the source of the pandemic. To distance itself from the horror based zombie movies of the past, World War Z is focused mostly around action and in doing so is very fast paced. Gerry is never in one location for too long and the plot itself is both easy to get to grips with and ploughs forward at a consistent pace. Journeying to many different countries also hammers home the fact that the entire world is fighting for survival. Where World War Z differs from its contemporaries is the fact that society still stands, albeit controlling and restrictive; it’s a more realistic take on how everyone would cope with a crisis situation, with unnecessary personal being deported to far off places. It’s a shame that this isn’t really expanded upon though; a great deal of emotion could have been generated by showing the struggles of ordinary people.

The performances in World War Z stick to the tried and true; strong yet simple characterisation is applied to all the main characters. Gerry is a lowly yet determined protagonist who is willing to go far to solve the dilemmas of the infection; this makes him likeable and him and his family are given plenty of time to interact and think over the decision to have him go and find a cure, allowing the audience to care about their fates. Most of the other major characters are relegated to secondary roles in the plot which is a good decision, given how Gerry finds new allies as he journeys to new countries; the movie therefore doesn’t have too many characters to keep track of at once. The only issue with World War Z’s acting performances are the somewhat basic and occasionally pointless side characters; one of these occurs when Gerry is asked to escort a scientist who lets loose a few interesting philosophical points, only to be killed off in the first half hour.

For everything teased by the trailers the computer effects for the infected hordes work very well; be it watching the thousands of zombies pour into a building or piling themselves up to scale a wall like ants, all of it fits the action focused tone of the film. The movie goes far to meet this focus; some of World War Z’s action scenes are simply awesome and mostly well shot, what would happen if zombies were on a plane? This is one of many sequences that are sure to blast audiences back in their seats. Yet for all its action it also takes time to balance these out through delivering slower paced, tense sequences; the initial escape from a Philadelphian apartment block being one example. Horror purists may complain of the lack of zombies chewing on humans but this works to the film’s benefit, allowing the action to take centre stage.

‘’World War Z’’ may differ from the average zombie movie, but it’s thrilling action sequences and easy to follow plotline make it a flick well worth your time.

Rating 4/5 Stars