Wednesday, August 7, 2013

World War Z by Chris Chapman


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 World War Z by Chris Chapman.
Summer 2013 Movie Review #6: "World War Z." Sorry that this one is bit late. Zombie seem to be everywhere in the media, and one of the touchstones of the Zombie resurgance was a pair of books by author Max Brooks, "The Zombie Survival Guide" and it's follow up, "World War Z." The book has kind of been on movie development hell for the last few years, and as this Bradd Pitt vehicle was being made, rumors came out of problems with it, and how the ending had to be totally reshot. That can make you feel uneasy when you go into movie. Almost as uneasy as seeing 5 writers in the credits. Never a good sign.


 In a nutshell, "World War Z" is Zombie Apocalypse on an epic scale. Brad Pitt plays a UN representative who is charged with finding out where the epidemic came from and so he globe hops to find the origin of the Zombie horde so they can be eradicated. Things don't go well, to put it simply.

 Unfortunately what happens is that the overall effect of the movie is a move from zombie attack set piece to set piece, with a poor overall story and a groan inducing ending. I lay the problems with "World War Z" with the writers. The book, deftly mixes individual stories of horror and lets the reader put together in their head, a world and society failing and falling into anarchy. Why this wasn't done as a Ken Burns-esque take on zombies (in a way the book does) stumps me. Connections to the book are tenuous at best. I do highly recommend reading the Max Brooks novel, BTW.

Problems: 1.) Zombie infection takes 15 seconds to effect people. Entire subplot of book about dealing with the infected BEFORE they turn Zed is lost. 2.) Fast Zombies. There is an entire debate about fast zombies vs. slow zombies. I'm a slow zombie fan. Much more creepy. 3.) PG-13. This flick is PG-13 to get to a bigger audience. There is a contradiction about PG-13 and Zombie movie. The nature of the material is gore and nastiness. This is the cleanist Zombie movie you'll ever see. This becomes an issue in two sequences where Brad Pitt has to deal with "things" that are out of frame. The point of the rest of the Zombie Movie Culture is the gore is used to get a reaction on multiple levels. When this is dealt with out of frame, it comes off as silly. I don't need more gore in my movies, and to tell the truth, the gore is what turns me off of the entire zombie genre. This just seemed weird. 4.) The ending. Not good. Very cliche'd. Did. Not. Like.

The good: OK effects. The CG Mega Zombie horde is dealt with effectively. Brad Pitt was OK too.

Chapman Rating ** out of 5. Skip it. Do the book or the AWESOME audio book instead. Biggest 
disappointment of the summer.

Summer 2013 Movie Review #6: "World War Z." Sorry that this one is bit late. Zombie seem to be everywhere in the media, and one of the touchstones of the Zombie resurgance was a pair of books by author Max Brooks, "The Zombie Survival Guide" and it's follow up, "World War Z." The book has kind of been on movie development hell for the last few years, and as this Bradd Pitt vehicle was being made, rumors came out of problems with it, and how the ending had to be totally reshot. That can make you feel uneasy when you go into movie. Almost as uneasy as seeing 5 writers in the credits. Never a good sign. In a nutshell, "World War Z" is Zombie Apocalypse on an epic scale. Brad Pitt plays a UN representative who is charged with finding out where the epidemic came from and so he globe hops to find the origin of the Zombie horde so they can be eradicated. Things don't go well, to put it simply. Unfortunately what happens is that the overall effect of the movie is a move from zombie attack set piece to set piece, with a poor overall story and a groan inducing ending. I lay the problems with "World War Z" with the writers. The book, deftly mixes individual stories of horror and lets the reader put together in their head, a world and society failing and falling into anarchy. Why this wasn't done as a Ken Burns-esque take on zombies (in a way the book does) stumps me. Connections to the book are tenuous at best. I do highly recommend reading the Max Brooks novel, BTW. Problems: 1.) Zombie infection takes 15 seconds to effect people. Entire subplot of book about dealing with the infected BEFORE they turn Zed is lost. 2.) Fast Zombies. There is an entire debate about fast zombies vs. slow zombies. I'm a slow zombie fan. Much more creepy. 3.) PG-13. This flick is PG-13 to get to a bigger audience. There is a contradiction about PG-13 and Zombie movie. The nature of the material is gore and nastiness. This is the cleanist Zombie movie you'll ever see. This becomes an issue in two sequences where Brad Pitt has to deal with "things" that are out of frame. The point of the rest of the Zombie Movie Culture is the gore is used to get a reaction on multiple levels. When this is dealt with out of frame, it comes off as silly. I don't need more gore in my movies, and to tell the truth, the gore is what turns me off of the entire zombie genre. This just seemed weird. 4.) The ending. Not good. Very cliche'd. Did. Not. Like. The good: OK effects. The CG Mega Zombie horde is dealt with effectively. Brad Pitt was OK too. Chapman Rating ** out of 5. Skip it. Do the book or the AWESOME audio book instead. Biggest disappointment of the summer.



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