A little primer before we actually start the review. World War Z is lifted from a book written by Max Brooks. It's written as a fictionalized recounting of survivor stories before, during and after the zombie pandemic that occurred in the near future. There are several characters in the book, they never intersect but they all share similarities. It's a tale of triumph and tragedy and human resilience in the face of extinction. It's a really great book.
That being said, Brad Pitt's version of World War Z isn't in the same page as that of Brooks' work. If anything, they only share the name and the main antagonist. I'll quote the bleedingcool.com review as to how the film shoul've been treated:
"If the film’s title had been something like ‘Tales From World War Z: #1, Gerry Lane’ I think fewer devotees of the book would be so incensed that the movie had very little to do with the source material."
In this movie, we basically see Brad Pitt as UN Investigator Gerry Lane travel the world in search of a way to neutralize the zombie threat. The bad news is that it's purely a Brad Pitt show, from start to end, this half of the Bradgelina tandem just goes out and talk. Not mow down zombies, but just run, chop people's hands off and just look damn good in the face of the zombie apocalypse...
Which kinda sucks...
I know its not fair to compare the movie to the book, but when your talking about something as cool and as large scale as World War Z, you really can't help it. There are a couple of great things that are original and very well thought off in the film. First there's the daring SoKor airstrip escape and that trying-to-be-stealthy sneak-in in the B-Wing of the W.H.O. office in England.
Not really sure if they still want to proceed with making World War Z a trilogy as proposed earlier, but what I do know is that some of the more favorable scenes written in the book is nowhere to be found in the movie. Things such as the "Battle of Yonkers" could've made better screen time but before it can even naturally make it's way into the screen, Brad and his family has already been airlifted out.
I found the film's ending to be anti-climatic. It's not even the good kind of anticlimatic but rather the bad kind. Is this what caused the film's delay? So after so many guns and nuclear weapons and napalm had been dropped on these zombies, it's actually just SARS that can repel them? Blergh.
What really irks me for Pitt's WWZ is the absence of some key scenes from the book. OK we understand that all the stuff that occurred in the Canadian wilderness, Japan and even in South Africa didn't really matter but what about the all important Battle of Yonkers? Or that bit with Reddecker and his safe zones?
Still World War Z is not without merits. The film utilizes a lot of widescreen shots especially when the camera goes aerial for the scope of the damage caused by these humans. The four or so set pieces in the film are also amazing in a visual sense [later on the logical].It's going to be a thrill to watch the final moments of the film.
Another major downfall for the film is the lack of gore. For a supposed zombie movie, there's a visible lack of gore here. I've always wondered what a zombie flick would be like without the blood and guts and WWZ gives me the answer. It's devoid of true terror. That little fear of mutilation and getting ripped apart by voracious zombies just loses its glimmer. Plus added the fact that the zombies here are more akin to beavers rather than the traditional Romero zombies we all love and loathe. Gotta hand it to the guys at Paramount however for thinking of a clever way of making the zombies scary...
Too bad it's only a one-time thing in the movie. They never swarm again post the part in Israel.
Overall, the movie could've been better. A better director, a better script could save this movie. I'd say that it's still a good popcorn-muncher, nothing more nothing less. And yes, not even Brad Pitt's good looks can save this one.
Verdict: 5/10
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I read the book but I am not a stickler to the original material - I completely understand that stories told on print need to be revised to be told as a movie. But you're right WWZ only told one story out of many from the book. On WWZ being Brad-centric - I have no problem whatsoever. Haha! The movie was one hell of an adrenaline rush. I would love an HBO series on WWZ though.
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