Review of World War Z (2013) by Jason L — 04 Oct 2015

Today, it seems like every popular movie has some sort of fictitious foe or is set in an apoplectic world. Even romance novels and movies have vampires and werewolves. Thankfully, World War Z avoids the terrible cliché. Thanks to Marc Forster's directing, World War Z is a well-done action and suspense film.

When a strange zombie disease is spreading, Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) an ex-United Nation investigator is dragged out of retirement. In exchange, the government will keep his wife, Karin (Mireille Enos), and his kids safe. Gerry's search for the truth about this disease drags him from one corner of the world to the other.

If you are a Brad Pitt lover, then you're in luck because Pitt is the only character that develops at all throughout the movie. What bothered me was this supposedly stay at home dad and ex-United Nations employee seemed more like a trained solider at times. But, at the end of the movie, I was rooting for him to get back home safely. I think, the true stars of this movie are the extras. Since Pitt was never rattled, the extras are what put fear and suspense into me. The way the zombies moved and acted wasn't the stereotypical zombie because each zombie had it's own unique tic. For example, one zombie always cranked its neck around and scratched at its eyes. While another zombie always chattered it's teeth. Other character's, such as his kids and wife, have little impact on the movie. This is one of the few flaws in this movie.

Cities portrayed in this movie, such as New York City and Jerusalem, are very well put together. NYC was your typical movie set of the city. Jerusalem, however, held some of the best scenes of the movie because of the way the city were laid out. The camera work was very strong in the movie, the director panned out to give an aerial view of the hoards of zombies rushing through city streets and his use of slow motion in some scenes. Special effects were well used in the editing stage to make the zombies look as real as possible. The most impressive use of special effects are the pan outs of recognizable cities falling before our eyes.

World War Z isn't a normal suspense movie where things jump out at you and loud noises make you leap out of your seat. Instead, this movie plays on one of societies' biggest fear, the event that leads to cities falling and mass panic. A catastrophe may not be from a zombie disease, but World War Z gives us that glimpse to a world without order is what makes us sit on the edge of our seats throughout the film.