WORLD WAR Z – The Review

WORLD WAR Z is easily the best time I’ve had at the movies so far this summer. Yes, I’ve heard all the stories about the huge production going over budget and all the reshoots and multiple script doctors, but for me, none of that was evident in the finished product.

Not being a fan at all of the zombie genre that has become so popular of late, I saw this more as a “global disaster” movie that had huge portions of the population affected and infected by a worldwide pandemic.

Brad Pitt is Gerry Lane, a former UN field investigator that now enjoys life as a family man with his wife (Mireille Enos) and daughters. In a hot second he goes from that tranquility to having to save his family and basically the rest of the world from marauding zombies. The infected folks are quite frightening as they move with great speed and accuracy attacking the healthy.

As his family is temporarily holed up in the safety of an aircraft carrier, Gerry is persuaded into resuming his old job and heads out in search of a solution, as city after city is overrun with chaos and destruction. He first goes to a North Korean military prison under siege, where he meets a corrupt and recently imprisoned CIA agent (David Morse) who may or may not be deranged.

From behind bars, he tells Gerry an outrageous and possibly true tale of his own first encounter with the virus and the way one nation, Israel, chose to combat it.

He then travels to Israel where the famous walls of Jerusalem are one of the last things keeping the undead at bay. This doesn’t last long, in a spectacular sequence where the unstoppable mass of zombies eventually makes it over the walls, but not before Gerry gets a few pieces of the puzzle he needs to stop it.

This is also where we meet Segen (Daniella Kertesz), a tough as nails IDF soldier that becomes Gerry’s right-hand (literally) partner in zombie ass-kicking.

Once at the World Health Organization’s research facility in Wales where the cure for this crazy pandemic may be found, the action slows very effectively to a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat thriller that has Gerry and crew having to make it past the last of the infected staff to get to the room which contains the possible ingredients for a vaccine.

In keeping with its PG-13 rating, WORLD WAR Z  isn’t overly graphic or gory, and doesn’t need to be. Some of the most frightening moments come from the sheer panic and fear at not being able to stop the impending disaster. The CGI sequences that have hordes of zombies scaling walls and leaping at helicopters mid-flight are very effective and downright cool. The score by Marco Beltrami is close to perfect, utilizing non-traditional instruments such as animal skulls and their clacking teeth to up the anxiety level.

Pitt is great as Gerry Lane. He’s not your typical hero. He can’t fly, he can’t beat up bad guys… he has no super-powers. He’s just a Dad, with a burning need to keep his family safe. Mireille Enos plays his wife Karen and she holds her own matched with Pitt as a Mom who must rise to the occasion of keeping her kids safe when Gerry leaves.

The supporting cast comprised of Fana Mokoena, Ludi Boeken, Fabrizio Zacharee Guido, James Badge Dale, and Matthew Fox (tv’s LOST) gives WORLD WAR Z a realistic global feel.

Of course, the most critical part of the film is the zombies themselves. These zombies, who have no intellect since they are walking dead, react in this swarm mentality and race around in a hysterical pitch. In WORLD WAR Z, the zombies are their most dangerous when tearing through the cities, but director Marc Forster’s film is at its best when he gives us horrific glimpses of the zombies when they are dormant.

When they are not provoked, they are stagnant, slow and wandering. When the feeding frenzy starts, they sense that there’s something to attack and they will just go for it. The film establishes very early, that the zombies are drawn to sound.

To create the zombie legion, the filmmakers turned to a combination of effects and artists – dancers, stunt people, prosthetics, make-up, CGI and carefully choreographed camera moves. This effectively translates to the screen through the work of cinematographer Ben Seresin, production designer Nigel Phelps, editors Roger Barton & Matt Chessé, visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar, choreographer Alexandra Reynolds, animation director Andy Jones and costume designer Mayes Rubeo.

The final result is an insect-y, jaw-driven creature.

Make no doubt. WORLD WAR Z is full-scale zombie pandemonium, but Forster also gives us moments that are intimate and human set against this massive apocalyptic crisis.

In the end, the film is a non-stop, scary action thriller, that is also really fun!

5 out of 5 stars

WORLD WAR Z is in theaters today!

Read my interview with the film’s composer, Marco Beltrami, HERE.

PG-13 for intense frightening zombie sequences, violence and disturbing images