World War Z

World War Z should have been very incoherent, it mixes very different approaches to the zombie sub-genre, but in the end it’s a surprisingly good an interesting film. The creative disagreements can be clearly seen (if there is something the film lacks it’s a solid vision), but paradoxically, that may have contributed to an untraditional narrative outcome. World War Z is basically three stories in one linked by the protagonist, and though they are connected, they are also very different in many aspects. The beginning is similar to Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead (the zombie apocalypse begins, the protagonists try get to safety), the middle part is an action-packed search for the origin of the virus, and the last part is a more intimate laboratory horror story. I had some problems with the middle part, though it does have several excellent set pieces, the search for clues as a whole felt very random and haphazard. By the way, the editor must have gone totally bonkers, in some of the action scenes you can’t see anything, and every shot that was at least a little longer was a joy. Thanks God for that quiet, intimate ending. 75 %. PS: If you want to know what the original ending of the film was like, read this article. I think that in this case it’s pointless to blast Lindelof’s rewrite. The version we saw in cinemas is a lot happier than the dark original ending, but even as a horror fan I don’t think that “dark” always equals “better”. That said, I’d love to watch the battle of Moscow, hopefully the studio will release it, at least in BluRay, they filmed it already. (27/06/2013)

Urgent, intense, with a slight intellectual touch. The finale is predictable around halfway through, but it does not diminish its dramatic and impressive quality in any way. It is technically brilliant and very fast-paced. This is the style that I have liked about Forster since Quantum of Solace, one that many condemn. I feel like it is slightly out of sync with today's time and many people can't digest it, but I perceive it as a very progressive aspect of his directing. Minimalistic in terms of acting and visuals, with minimal (depressive and gloomy) music, exceptionally raw and “realistic”, World War Z has an excellent feeling to it. The zombies are unbelievably believable and also one of the few that are taken seriously. (05/07/2013)

According to Max Brooks, World War Z became more serious after the experiences of the past years. It used to be just a different, smarter zombie movie with Brad Pitt produced by his company Plan B. The main asset was Pitt's classic hero, the ultimate likable guy, who looks good no matter what, and of course, it's him and no one else who can save humanity... with his cuteness. Today, the sight of a global pandemic is somewhat more chilling. (18/02/2022)

A very decent spectacle. It has momentum, ideas and above all an excellent main character who is ready to undergo the worst not because some pompous patriotic duty calls him to it, but because he is protecting his own family. Brad Pitt is excellent, and although he's no superman, and I really liked how logical his character is, how he makes instinctive decisions and improvises (making a bayonet or forearm guards, plus other moments that I won't reveal - one of them has to do with the roof of a house and the other with a hand and a knife...). World War Z should be longer, though, because I couldn't help feeling that quite a lot of the plot is missing and many things or characters are somehow unexplained or unnecessarily rushed (David Morse, why everyone in Jerusalem suddenly started singing...). Otherwise, everything is just fine. Some of the situations were almost blackly humorous (Dr. Fassbach, the way North Korea fights the disease...), the ending didn't have a single flaw (except that it reminded me a bit of the ending of I am Legend). The stunts are almost perfect, the action is fortunately much clearer than in Quantum of Solace, the zombies are swarming like ants and are very (un)pleasantly unpredictable, and of all the biting swarming I probably liked the Jerusalem episode the most (despite the aforementioned criticism). And Marco Beltrami composed excellent music, but this time it is more interesting after seeing the film. A strong four stars. (27/06/2013)

Brrrr... in this film, the ghosts of dead ambitions are haunting. The script (re-written three times) bears witness to a shift from a not entirely perceived personnel perspective (a whiff of institutional crisis and slight hints of the sociology of disaster brought to a solid level by Forster's more civilian direction), to a bombastic spectacle (action adventure structure including some sequences that are obviously "scripted" - Jerusalem), and then back to the intimate plane (a completely redesigned ending that left behind the monstrous action storyline in Russia and edited in a bit of intimate Resident Evil in a lab). In addition to the surprisingly certain directing and atmosphere, the whole thing is saved by Pitt, who, even when infected with a can in his hand, looks as if he really cares a lot about the film (perhaps it’s the x million invested in it?). At its core, I like this indecisive wash between Contagion, The Walking Dead and a forgettable "disaster" film. If only because some people had foretold that it would have the fate of the disintegrated catastrophe a la The Invasion, but the film is more like Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The individual levels are actually quite entertaining, and when one abstracts from awkward transitions, the screenwriting issues and the fact that the only thing in common with the original are the undead, it was solid fun overall. [70%] P.S. I would love to bite the idiot who came up with a film with a frenetic cadence of alternating wholes, second-long details and out of focus shots converted into 3D. If you can, just avoid this desperate attempt to save an overburdened budget. (19/06/2013)