Movies: World War Z

Score:  **** out of ***** (B+)

Long Story Short:  World War Z seems like a typical zombie/disaster blockbuster, and in many ways it is - but it's a damn good one at that.  Director Marc Forster paces the movie, builds the stakes, and varies the action with great care and skill.  Brad Pitt is a very solid lead, and within such a tense film provides a stalwart foundation to cling to.  If you want a fun action movie out now, go see this (and skip Man of Steel!).


Unfortunately, I'm getting a little behind in the summer movie season.  World War Z was released two weeks ago, and I still plan to see Monsters University, released at the same time.  But hopefully, these reviews will still be helpful or at least entertaining.  As for this one, after seeing a brief trailer, I was quite intrigued.  Brad Pitt as an action hero and the zombie genre are not exactly new by themselves, but there was something about it that caught my eye.  I haven't read the graphic novel it's based on, which was fine because I didn't want to spoil anything for myself.  When the film was released to solid reviews, it was an easy choice for me.  World War Z was directed by Marc Forster (Stranger Than Fiction, Quantum of Solace) and stars Brad Pitt.

The film opens in the Philadelphia home of the Lanes, a seemingly ordinary morning in the present.  However, things start to happen quickly:  first, the family is stuck downtown in unusually slow-moving traffic.  Then an explosion goes off several blocks behind them, followed by a garbage truck ramming its way through traffic.  As Gerry (Pitt), a former U.N. official, guides the car through chaos, people stream alongside - but some of them start to attack the car.  Watching in a mirror, Gerry observes one man get bitten by an attacker and, seconds later, transform into a rabid attacker himself.

The family manages to escape downtown Philly, and Gerry's old boss contacts him.  The Lanes manage to hold out until a helicopter can bring them to a base of operations; from there, Gerry is pressed back into service in trying to find out what the heck is going on.  It's a race against the zombie clock as Gerry goes around the world in search of answers - while trying to avoid the increasing hordes of undead.

The cast of World War Z is basically Brad Pitt plus a number of supporting players.  Pitt fits into the role well, particularly the parts where he exudes the cool-under-pressure confidence and competence honed during his years in the U.N.  He provides a strong figure for the audience to latch onto as the world goes to hell around him.  The parts where he plays family man are more of a mixed bag, with some of it very good and some feeling forced.  There are a good number of supporting players, but I'll just mention two I liked.  Daniella Kertesz plays an inexperienced yet tough soldier; this is not an over-the-top gung-ho role as so many other similar roles devolve into.  And I especially liked James Badge Dale as another soldier.  He starred in the HBO series The Pacific, and I've also seen him in a few other minor roles (Flight, Iron Man 3).  James acts with great but controlled energy, and he's able to steal attention away from even the big stars when on screen.  I look forward to seeing more of him.

World War Z is, as I expected, a pretty typical blockbuster disaster film in structure, but it is a very fine take on the genre.  An interesting, spectacular yet creepy little pre-credits intro gets you prepped for something big - global scale, to be specific.  World War Z wastes little time getting to the action, and it had me on the edge of my seat for a good, sustained thirty minutes or more to start - a very impressive achievement.  Then you get a little break, and it's back to gripping your chair.  The tension succeeds for several reasons.  First, the action may start quickly, but it also starts small (focusing mainly on the threat to the Lane family) and builds from there.  Also, the outbreak is so out of control that when something good does happen (i.e.: Pitt does something heroic) it comes more as a relief rather than as roll your eyes moments.  There are a few zombie-cliche moments, but they are brief and don't detract from the overall tension.  Finally, the special effects are good, and used relatively sparingly, but the scariest parts of the film are what you can't see.

***

I went into World War Z with very little in the way of expectations, and I came out pleased with the result.  The film has great focus, and it knows what it is - a zombie blockbuster - so while that put a ceiling on how good it could be, it also gave it a floor.  Fortunately, it's pretty darn close to the ceiling.  The strongest part is what I was talking about in the previous paragraph, the atmosphere of tension.  This is why I've been particularly vague in describing the film, as I don't want to spoil many specifics.  Besides what I wrote above, contributing greatly to its success is a sensible running time (just under two hours) and very good pacing.  If it had been just constant chasing and danger, you'd get worn out, but there's enough of a family element (admittedly, one of the film's weakest elements) and big picture explanation (fascinating, but not with an unrealistic level of detail).  Certainly there are some nits that could be picked - mostly having to do with Pitt's extraordinary number of skills and his being in the right (or wrong) place at the right time.  But that got swept away for me by the sheer level of excitement throughout.  I could certainly see myself revisiting this a few years from now, and I especially recommend it as a theater viewing if you haven't seen it yet (and, of course, enjoy action and/or zombie films).