Review of 'World War Z'
The lives of ex-UN investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family, wife Karin (Mireille Enos), daughters Rachel (Abigail Hargrove) and Constance (Sterling Jerins) are thrown into chaos when a mysterious plague infects the population quickly turning people into frighteningly fast mindless killing machines. Called to help the UN figure out what is going on, Lane leaves his family on a naval ship for protection and travels with a virologist Dr. Andrew Fassbach (Elyes Gabel) to South Korea where Fassbach is quickly dispatched in a silly accident. Left with a squad of soldiers Lane picks up the mantle of trying to figure out what is going on, racking up the air miles and he struggles to find the cure.
Yes, another zombie flick but a zombie flick with a difference: Very, very fast zombies. There are many terrifying scenes of seething masses of zombies scrambling over cities in search of their prey (courtesy of computer program “MASSIVE” from Weta Workshop originally developed for the Lord of the Rings films) as well as scenes of global destruction as we follow lane around the planet. The story is wacked out but not entirely unbelievable and nicely (for a Hollywood film) it does not end entirely predictably. There are a few things that are a bit hard to swallow but I won't mention them here and spoil the plot somewhat, though they are a bit annoying.
Pitt is generally Pitt-ish and is good here as the action hero forced into leaving his family and doing something he would rather not do…though the transition from loving father into super-fast, lethal killing machine in, literally, seconds is a tad unbelievable. It is all about Pitt with his family merely going along with the chaos. Pitt will save us all! Halleluiah! But, hey, it is all “good” fun and simply amazing to look at even if it (like many that have gone before) stretches credulity to breaking point…it is real enough to make the horror a bit more real…
Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2023-02-05
Directed by: Marc Forster
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Year: 2013
Length: 116 minutes
Genre: Science Fiction
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/
Other reviewed films by Marc Forster:
- Quantum of Solace (2008)