Review: World War Z (2013)

Former United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) leave his family behind when called into action by a former colleague and the United States military to travel the world in a desperate search for a cure to stop a zombie pandemic that is sweeping the globe, pushing civilisation the brink of total collapse.

I don’t really get caught up in the hype that surrounds the pending release of a film; in fact I avoid it the best I can because it annoys the shit out of me. My approach is simple; I hear about a film that strikes my interest, I watch the trailer and wait for it to be released. But the past few days it’s been hard to avoid the negativity towards this film; mainly just childish comments from people saying that they refuse to see it because it’s not accurate to the novel or because it simply looks stupid. However after seeing the film I will say that the trailer is a little misleading so I can see how that might put people off from seeing it.

I went to see World War Z yesterday, its opening day here in Australia. I saw it with my Dad and we both loved it. I’m glad to say that it’s not your typical zombie film. Like most from that genre they usually take place in one specific location, a shopping centre, a small town, a fortified safe zone etc. But in the case of World War Z we have a zombie film on a global scale; which brings me to what I absolutely loved and appreciated about this film. It’s the realism, the film grounds itself in reality the best it can and for the first time we the audience get to see in stunning and frightening detail what a global zombie pandemic might actually look like and it’s pretty scary stuff.

The film is very well paced; when the film starts it really starts. The first 30 minutes does not let up for a moment as we follow Brad Pitt’s character and his family through the sheer chaos of pandemic. That sequence combined with the fast camera work really adds to the consistent sense of realism.

Unlike most zombie films there is little to no gore in this one; in fact the film is only rated M15. This I admit I found to be a little discouraging when I first heard about that but in place of the lack of gore we have first class suspense which is easily one the film’s strongest points. Talk about intense cinema, no amount of blood and guts could match what this film was able to achieve with the art of suspense.

They way these zombies move is really quite a sight, especially when they all mass together. They’re like liquid, a raging torrent of people. I found that to be particularly disturbing as I had never seen anything like it.  It was all CG but it looked great and yes it’s a CG heavy film but it doesn’t rely on it like a lot of films these days do unfortunately.

Brad Pitt gives a fine performance as our hero Gerry Lane. There’s not much to say about his character because we don’t really know a great deal about it.  I was particular impressive with the performance from Daniella Kertesz who plays an Israeli soldier who ends up along side Pitt’s character. She was very strong and a great supporting character.

Apart from the film’s third act being somewhat underwhelming I thoroughly enjoyed World War Z; a zombie film that departs from the usual formula aiming for realism and a more intelligent story that does not rely on the traditional zombie gimmicks.

   

By Kevin Bechaz

Credit Where Credit's Due

Director: Marc Forster
Writer(s): Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz

Runtime: 116 minutes
Release Date(s): USA: June 21, 2013 Australia: June 20, 2013