Second Opinion – World War Z (2013)

United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.

It’s a movie that has had a troubled and well-documented production. It’s a movie that has been hated by fans of the novel from the moment the trailer debuted. It’s a movie that really stood no chance of doing well. But do you know what, it’s actually a great movie.

Being a huge fan of Max Brook’s wonderful novel of the same name, I had fairly low expectations going into World War Z. The trailers made it look like nothing more than your average run-of-the-mill zombie film, the likes of which we’ve seen over and over again. Ever since Shaun of the Dead came out in 2005, it seems like we can’t go one year without a whole plethora of zombie related movies being released into the cinemas (or DVD shelves) and all of which have offered nothing new. But World War Z is so much better than the trailers would have you believe. While it does have it’s fair share of zombie cliches (and therefore problems), it’s so much better than anything that has come before it.

When going into this movie it’s really important to put the novel out of your mind. With the exception of the title and a credit to the author at the start of the movie, this has nothing to do with the book. World War Z is it’s own movie. It tells the story of retired UN employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) who is now living the life of a happy family man. However this life is threatened when a virus outbreak starts to sweep the world, turning the dead into the undead. He is called back in by the UN to find out just where this outbreak started and if they can find a cure. Thus begins a world trip as Gerry tracks down the breadcrumbs to the initial outbreak.

Where World War Z works is in its scale. Wide shots of burning cities with legions of the undead chasing down hopeless survivors give a good scope of just how devastating this war is. This is coupled brilliantly by some very well orchestrated action scenes that really give off a sense of panic, with frenetic camera work that still manages to feel stable. Despite the movie being earning a 15 rating, all of the violence and bloodshed happens off screen which really adds to the movie’s style. We see this war through the eyes of Gerry and he doesn’t always see everything.

The now controversially re-written third act completely changes the movie’s pace and it’s actually quite refreshing. Following a very dramatic plane crash sequence (that followed another phenomenal action scene), the movie takes us on an almost Metal Gear Solid inspired stealth sequence that not only freshens the movie up, but also adds another level to how the zombies work in this Universe. It’s really to the credit of Marc Forster to take this risk with shuffling (no pun intended) how the movie feels. It might also be the first good thing to come from the fingertips of Damon Lindeloff.

World War Z‘s production problems are evident throughout the movie but it never holds it back from being an enjoyable experience. Forster never lets the audience get bored of either its scenes of exposition or even its action set pieces. Everything is so well timed and thought out that you wouldn’t know about the troubled production unless you were told. Admittedly the CGI is utterly inexcusable at times and it feels like watching a cut scene from an Xbox game rather than a motion picture, but the grander shots with physical effects and extras are superb.

As an adaption of Max Brook’s novel it’s awful and the source material does deserve a better adaptation, but as a zombie film World War Z is easily one of the better ones. The action is great, it’s paced well, Lane is an interesting enough character and Foster shoots the movie with huge scope. It may have its issues and its problems cannot be overlooked, but World War Z could end up being this year’s most surprising movie.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.