Review of World War Z (2013) by Dedy D — 25 Jul 2014

A very pleasant surprise. I had heard horror stories about how this production was extremely troubled; the ending had to be completely retooled. When watching the movie, you can see how this played out. There is a coda that looks like a collage of deleted scenes thrown together with Brad Pitt supplying a voice over that is the most awkward thing in the movie. Unfortunately, that is what we are left with. The rest of the movie works fairly well. Brad Pitt's character is charged by the UN with finding the cause of the zombie outbreak, which hopefully will lead to a cure. So essentially the movie is a series of set pieces with Pitt trying to escape zombies in various situations. The most intense example being when a Z gets into the cargo hold of a plane and unleashes itself upon the passengers.

One gripe I have about this movie is the the use of CG zombies. They look pretty fake compared to the ones created with make up and practical effects. There certainly is a difference between the two in the film. A real groaner is when zombies create a wall of bodies by climbing on each other to get into Jerusalem, one of the few places that kept the first wave of undead at bay. The wave effects shown when the zombies chase people is a little awkward as well.

The altered ending, with Pitt and a few others sneaking through a medical facility, is well done until Pitt magically injects himself with the correct vial to immunize himself from the zombies on the first try! Grade: 8.