Review of World War Z (2013) by Dave M — 24 Feb 2015

An ordinary day in Philadelphia becomes a horrifying fight for survival in a matter of minutes....okay, maybe that's not too unusual, but in a matter of days, people are confined to a few islands of humanity where the walls seem to be closing in and no one is really safe. "World War Z" is truly frightening.

It all starts with the best shot, best edited most heart-pounding opening credits I've ever seen (yes, I said opening credits) and it just builds in intensity from there. Zombies have been scaring movie audiences for decades, and, more recently, TV audiences as well, but never like this. This film is like an episode of "The Walking Dead" on crack. These zombies move much faster than most of the zombies you've seen on TV or in the movies and they work together in ways that make you believe that mankind is indeed doomed. Still, the movie balances the action and sense of dread with a humanity that is lacking in many zombie tales. As in most zombie stories, a bite from a zombie quickly turns a healthy human into one of the undead, and a shot or severe blow to the head is the only way to really stop them, but as lethal as these zombies are, they have a weakness.

"World War Z" star Brad Pitt, in a subtle, but intense performance, plays a former United Nations employee and man-of-many talents who is brought back into the fold to help figure out how this whole thing started. Pitt's character is smart, resourceful and absolutely determined to do anything he can to save the world, but mainly as a way to save his own family who waits for his return on a ship at sea. He embarks on a perilous around-the-world trek following clues and putting himself at greater and greater risk to prevent the apparently imminent extinction of the human race.

The movie comes to an end, but the story's ending isn't so neat. That's not a criticism. It's an example of what this film does very well - make the audience feel that if there were a zombie apocalypse, this is really what it might be like. One man living through and accomplishing everything that Pitt's character survives and does in this film makes him come off a little too much like a superhero, but it sure is thrilling to be along for the ride. I give "World War Z" an "A-".