Brains!!! The first thing on any good zombie's mind and clearly the last thing on the film maker's. Sadly I fell victim to a zombie attack on my own cerebral organ. It was consumed, digested, evacuated and re-implanted into its former shell; once there I realized I became a statistic. Sadly, I am now no better and no more useful than those infectious flesh rotting sub-humans, whose brains are no better off than a bowl of porridge, and less helpful. World War Z is unfortunately the newest "film" to leave me feeling like I no longer belong, and as is true in most zombie flicks, this film will continue to rot viewers brains, until We The Viewers find our own cure, and stop the atrocity of this film.
In case you couldn't decipher my intro paragraph, I was a bit wordy I'll admit, World War Z was not only bad, but it was really bad. Not only do I feel that this film should have never made it past the cutting room floor, I strongly believe that this could not have been the best final project available. It pains me to say this, but having worked in production, I know first hand that the best tool in any film maker's arsenal is the ability to shoot scenes/sequences over and over until the director's vision is brought to life, unlike the main subjects of this film. Having said all of this, while watching World War Z, I couldn't help but think that the Discovery channel could have made a far better version of a world wide pandemic revolving around rabies and infected humans.
The worst part yet, is that the epic conclusion, the one which gives us insight on how to stop this armageddon, turned out to not only fizzle like a sparkler, but to ultimately fall flat on its face in the most anti-climactic sort of ways.
Brad Pitt is the main man we follow throughout this "film", and Brad is traveling the world in search of answers on how to help save humanity; this is the essence of World War Z. As Brad moves around the globe he runs into more and more problems, ranging from total destruction to naive nations hiding behind a wall. Why naive? Because apparently no one bothered to tell these "survivors" that not only are these zombies resourceful but they are also skilled free-climbers.
So as Brad's comfort zone shrinks and shrinks, we empathize with him as he falls farther away from any real answers. One thing we see, and eventually Brad sees, is that these zombies seem to avoid certain people. What we don't know and are never really told, is that the zombies avoid those who are terminally ill, thus incapable of continuing the zombie spread. Apparently these zombies with their rotting brains gain an extra sense, and that sense allows them to be able to instantly recognize whether or not a person will be helpful in their global takeover.
Sounds a little flimsy, huh? Well sadly what makes this notion that these sub-human ravenous monsters are capable of something we smart intelligent humans are not, look half-way decent, is the fact that the film makers never bothered to explain any of the details to us. All we are given is the tip of the iceberg into the makings and inner workings of these creatures. Flimsy indeed. Worse off, somehow Brad Pitt, who is neither a scientist nor genius, figures out through zero interviewing or investigating, the weakness and flaw behind the zombies. He ultimately finds himself at a World Health Organization building, and following some intense scenes of sneaking and being chased through a labyrinth like laboratory, somehow ends up exactly where he was wanting to go: the infectious disease cold storage room. Once there, he is forced to inject himself with the H1N1 virus. This miraculously proves his theory correct that terminally ill individuals have a certain "camouflage" benefitting them. We see him walk untouched back through a zombie hoard to the safety of other non-infected humans. Cue the sappy monologue starting with "This is not the end," even though it in fact is the end of the film. To save humanity the W.H.O. and other organizations distribute the H1N1 disease around the globe. I gather since we see Brad get injected with the cure, that the world also receives the cure; again not explained. If you give yourself a deadly disease and the cure, how are you exempt any longer from the view of zombies? Again not well thought out, rather an extremely flat, confusing and anti-climactic finale.
yay...
I see your wall, and raise you a zombie ladder
So as Brad's comfort zone shrinks and shrinks, we empathize with him as he falls farther away from any real answers. One thing we see, and eventually Brad sees, is that these zombies seem to avoid certain people. What we don't know and are never really told, is that the zombies avoid those who are terminally ill, thus incapable of continuing the zombie spread. Apparently these zombies with their rotting brains gain an extra sense, and that sense allows them to be able to instantly recognize whether or not a person will be helpful in their global takeover.
I'm sensing your skepticism
Sounds a little flimsy, huh? Well sadly what makes this notion that these sub-human ravenous monsters are capable of something we smart intelligent humans are not, look half-way decent, is the fact that the film makers never bothered to explain any of the details to us. All we are given is the tip of the iceberg into the makings and inner workings of these creatures. Flimsy indeed. Worse off, somehow Brad Pitt, who is neither a scientist nor genius, figures out through zero interviewing or investigating, the weakness and flaw behind the zombies. He ultimately finds himself at a World Health Organization building, and following some intense scenes of sneaking and being chased through a labyrinth like laboratory, somehow ends up exactly where he was wanting to go: the infectious disease cold storage room. Once there, he is forced to inject himself with the H1N1 virus. This miraculously proves his theory correct that terminally ill individuals have a certain "camouflage" benefitting them. We see him walk untouched back through a zombie hoard to the safety of other non-infected humans. Cue the sappy monologue starting with "This is not the end," even though it in fact is the end of the film. To save humanity the W.H.O. and other organizations distribute the H1N1 disease around the globe. I gather since we see Brad get injected with the cure, that the world also receives the cure; again not explained. If you give yourself a deadly disease and the cure, how are you exempt any longer from the view of zombies? Again not well thought out, rather an extremely flat, confusing and anti-climactic finale.
About the only thing I actually thought was well done, was the depiction of the breakdown of society and its norms. Scenes showing looting, and citizens with little to no clue what to do. There was even a scene showing human vs. human aggression and "blindness" to the rules. The minute the proverbial S#!T hit the fan, all social rules and regulations went out the window. This seemed to me to be the most realistic aspect of this abomination of a film, since in reality, as soon as all hell breaks loose, I have little to no doubt in my mind that every societal barrier will be broken down in the blink of an eye, and we will be left to fend for ourselves.
All in all reader, this film is nothing like the Best Selling book by Max Brooks. This film was flat across the board, probably flatter than what Christopher Columbus expected the world to be.
There were few times when the intensity of the chase made things slightly less boring. For the most part I noticed myself sighing rather frequently at the missed opportunities and the other-wise slow and pointless plot. The acting wasn't exceptional nor was it ugly, but the plot and story-line took much of the little positive attention away and replaced it with zzzzzzzzz's. All in all, we were given a film whose story made less sense than a 5 year old using his parent's camera, and in the end I realized humanity won't be destroyed by a zombie outbreak, but rather by bad cinema.
Final Words: zzz.
This film tried to create a realistic feel for the end of the world, but made one major mistake: it was boring and pointless. This film is not even worth the $1 Redbox. I don't even know if it would be worth the time catching it on free cable.
Until next time, happy viewing!
Review Rating : Based on popcorn sizes; small, medium, large, extra-large
When films get a snore zzz... worth skipping
Quickly, we must flee the bad storyline
Final Words: zzz.
This film tried to create a realistic feel for the end of the world, but made one major mistake: it was boring and pointless. This film is not even worth the $1 Redbox. I don't even know if it would be worth the time catching it on free cable.
Until next time, happy viewing!
Review Rating : Based on popcorn sizes; small, medium, large, extra-large
When films get a snore zzz... worth skipping
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