One author who has gained popularity for his portrayal of such a post apocalyptic world is Max Brooks, who's written the popular "Zombie Survival Guide" and a collection of zombie apocalyptic warfare history with "World War Z". The latter novel, published in 2006, depicts Brooks' fictionalized self as a United Nations officer who travels the globe and interviews various people who have survived and experienced fighting the undead in a war that has spanned for over a decade. Suffice to say, the book was impressive and I loved every bit of it... Which is why it's no surprise that Hollywood decided to make a film based on the book, with Hollywood heartthrob and star Brad Pitt attached as its lead.
Premiering last June 2 and now showing in international theaters such as the Philippines, the film version of World War Z depicts Pitt's character in the same role as Brooks, but is vastly different plot and action wise as the circumstances play out more to explain the beginning of the outbreak and how humanity struggles to contain it. SPOILER WARNING of course goes out to those who want to see it with a fresh mind intact, so read at your own risk before engaging with the undead first hand. Special Thanks goes to Solar UIP Philippines for the special screening, and now here's the review to one of 2013's most anticipated summer blockbuster films!
Directed by Marc Forster of Quantum of Solace fame, World War Z has the elements of a powerful zombie blockbuster film of epic global proportions. Brad Pitt plays former UN investigator Gerry Lane, who's thrust right into the undead pandemic just as it spreads like wildfire in the US. Managing to get his family to safety thanks to his training and contacts, Gerry's experience is called to help with the situation, forcing him to come out of retirement once more to find out the source of the outbreak. With the entire world's fate hanging in the balance, he must dig deep and use his natural wits and skill in order to combat the zombie epidemic and give humanity a fighting chance for survival.
Summer Blockbuster wise, Brad Pitt easily makes the draw and helps the appeal for this movie (with his production company Plan B Entertainment also co-producing), seeing as the film can be called "Brad Pitt vs Zombies" and everyone knows that he's one of Hollywood's most attractive and well-known stars. In this film, he's making the rounds to find the origin of the Z virus, seeing the chaos firsthand and fighting something that's realistically too big and dangerous to fight alone but luckily gets by almost unscathed. Admittedly, Pitt's character of Gerry Lane has a lot of luck on his side, but as the lead protagonist that's what he's supposed to do, and he's got the crowd following him every step of the way to see his adventure through. Other co-stars like Mirielle Enos, James Badge Dale, and David Morse have parts to play in the tale, but overall, the film pretty much centers around Pitt all the way.
The zombies in the film are not your average ghouls. You'll literally see more of them as CGI running animals than the slow moving, rotting corpses most are used to seeing in Romero flicks or The Walking Dead. There's a bit of a nod to the latter type of undead later in the film, but majority of it makes them look like the fast-paced ones from the Dawn of the Dead remake and the Rage virus victims. The running adds tension but also makes it unrealistic and somewhat different from what many are used to seeing in most depictions from different shows. Make no mistake, this is still a zombie flick, so it still applies that if your bitten or die from the infection, you'll turn into one of those things. It's also interesting to note how Brad Pitt observes and deals with the plague, which relies on his keen observation skills and training as a UN investigator. "Movement is life" he says early on in the film, and much of that stays true as he tries to stay one step ahead of the game all throughout this epidemic.
Whether you love zombie movies or not and despite straying away from the initial premise of Max Brooks' novel, the film version of World War Z is a solid and serviceable survival horror flick that fans of the genre will enjoy seeing. It's got heavy action sequences and lots CG on it that'll make you cringe at the sight of a swarm of undead overwhelming hosts of cities, so there's a lot going for this film that sees Brad Pitt traveling to numerous locations around the world to find the answers on where the plague came from. It's not perfect and there's a number of cliche and predictable moments, but overall this movie gets the job done and is a worthy "prequel" of sorts to the novel and the zombie genre as a whole. If you like fast paced tension and survival horror like a video game, this is the movie for you.
Rating - 4/5
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