World War Z (2013)

Starring: Brad Pitt, and that’s pretty much it

Directed by: Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, Finding Neverland, Machine Gun Preacher)

Synopsis:  You know, zombies.

Best part(s): The zombie wall climb. Not the greatest achievement in special effects ever but pretty cool nonetheless.

Worst part: Pitt survives a jumbo jet crash with a large piece of metal in is gut, but manages to walk to a W.H.O. building, which is fortunately very close by. 

Best line: None, really. The script is pretty weak.

Nudity: Why is it zombies are almost always fully clothed? You’d think the first thing that would happen is your top would fall off.

Overall: I’ve been a zombie fan for years, long before the Dawn of the Dead remake and the tidal wave of zombie movies that followed. I remember when zombie pictures were few and far between, and now a new one comes out every other month, and they seem to be getting worse and worse, and the zombie genre has become as decayed as… hmm, can’t think of a good analogy… Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed Max Brooks’s World War Z, and loved the narrative tone it took of people telling all of these stories from different viewpoints of the war against zombies. I thought it would make an amazing Ken Burns-style mockumentary miniseries. So when I heard they were producing World War Z, I was into it, but wondered how they would make it work in a 2-hour movie form. Then it was slowly revealed that the movie would have almost nothing to do with the book whatsoever. Then why did you option the book? Just make a zombie movie. So this movie got a lot of backlash from the start because it’s not what any fans of the book were hoping for, plus it’s never a good sign when the author of the book doesn’t have much of anything to do with the movie. But standing on its own merits, World War Z isn’t bad. It’s pretty enjoyable, with some really good action scenes. I liked how they portrayed zombieism as a virus that needs to spread. But that’s pretty much it when it comes to differentiating itself from the countless other zombie movies out there. People run. Zombies chase. People shoot zombies. Zombies bite. People bash zombies in the head. Zombies zombie. People lose hope. Rob zombie. Etc. The ending was a little different but a little… stupid? “Awesome, zombies aren’t trying to bite us anymore… but now we have to live with Super AIDS.” Uh, way to go, I guess? Apparently the original ending had Pitt taken by the Russians and he becomes like General Patton against the zombies or something. That sounds pretty bad, too. So, eh, it was ok, it’s just too bad we won’t get that miniseries. They are making a sequel, so maybe that will include more of the book, but doubtful. Mel Brooks must be spinning in his grave.

Score: 6.5 injections of polio (out of 10)