June 24, 2013

Movie Review: World War Z

WORLD WAR MEH.

***Disclaimer*** This is my opinion and nothing else. I will not tell anyone to NOT watch this movie, that decision must be made on your own, but I WILL tell you what I liked and disliked about it.

WORLD WAR ZI went into WORLD WAR Z without having read the book by Max Brooks. I tend to do that with a lot of movies because I don’t want to be tied down with pre-assumptions, but also, because I just haven’t gotten around to reading them. I do try to leave the pre-assumptions at home. I did know that the book was written as a series of loosely tied-together stories. The movie, however, focuses on one character and his family. Whether that character is from the book, I’m not sure.

The movie revolves around Gerry Lane, played by Brad Pitt, and his family. Gerry used to investigate for the United Nations. He’s suddenly called in to investigate the pandemic that seems to be blossoming around the world. He agrees in exchange for the safety of his family and takes off on a globe-spanning hunt for the cause of the outbreak.

WORLD WAR ZThis story line is nothing fantastic. It’s Dustin Hoffman’s character from OUTBREAK sent to different parts of the world with “zombies” chasing him. There are plot holes that make you wonder if the characters are just that dumb. There’s one scene that made you wonder if they could have avoided it, if they had just taken a little more time with the writing procedure. I think that’s where this movie might have failed is that there was such a rush to finish it.

World War Z Zombie WallMy movie-watching buddy stated that he liked the make-up and effects but you didn’t get to see very much of it. It seemed to be overshadowed by the awesome CGI. That is really what made me want to see this movie in the first place was the masses of zombies. Rushing from one victim to the next, they reminded me of hive-minded army ants, going so far as to use each other as another ladder rung or stair step. It was that focused mentality of the zombie that scared me most.

All-in-all, it was an okay movie, but nothing that warrants spending full price admission. The big screen does do it justice, but the action scenes have really all been seen before. I probably would have stayed home and watched it on DVD or Netflix, but I did get to spend some quality time with my friends, and that’s always a plus.

Have you seen WORLD WAR Z yet? What did you think? If you haven’t seen it yet, what makes you not want to?

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