World War Z

 

It is not often I get to make the disclaimer that I have read the book before seeing the film.  It is important that I admit now that WWZ is one of my favourite books.  This is by way of an apology for this review turning into a rant but not for the content of said rant.

It is quite the achievement that one of my favourite books has become one of my least anticipated films in recent memory.  WWZ had been stuck in development hell for years, was subject to countless reshoots and when I first viewed the trailer a little piece of my heart withered and died.

PLOT:  A zombie virus has broken out on a global scale.  The world is falling apart and former UN employee Jerry (Brad Pitt) travels from country to country in an attempt to discover the source of the virus.  The world goes to shit and everyone loses the ability to swear.  The smartest person in the world trips and accidentally shoots himself.  The source is found in Wales.  The door is left wide open for a sequel but the hint is accompanied by a brass band and flashing neon signs.  END PLOT

The plot is so far removed from the source material it feels like the writers read WWZ and wrote the script on Opposite Day. 

The storyline of the film captures nothing of the emotional first-hand encounters contained in the book and instead focuses on the story of one man’s globetrotting adventure to find the source and thereafter the cure.

The worldwide scale works well in the book and we follow the story of the different characters from start to finish.  The film seemed to have missed the point of this entirely as the scale is there, it is just devoid of any emotion, drama or tension and that important ingredient – characters.

Brad Pitt is fine as Jerry but he is lumbered with wooden dialogue and despite being the “hero” he is given absolutely nothing to do other than look bemused and accessorise with jaunty scarves. 

The action ranges from nameless extras running from CGI zombies to CGI zombies chasing nameless extras.  The constant running around and zippy camera movements did create a sense of chaos but it didn’t add anything to the film as it was just a sea of faces that I didn’t know or care about.

The set pieces felt lazy and the woeful grand finale inside the WHO consisted of approximately ten zombies.  The finale did try to slow things down but unfortunately the change in pace still didn’t manage to create any tension.  It was never believable that Jerry was in any real danger.

I will concede that zombies on a plane is a terrifying thought.  This was the best part of the film.  I have a fear of flying so that section was always going to make me feel on edge.

The mass hordes of CGI zombies looked like something from an old computer game with the “climbing the wall” section in Israel being as bad as the trailer predicted.  The makeup and prosthetics from the few zombies we saw up close in the WHO were poor.  The effects on The Walking Dead have made a big budget production seem like amateur hour. 

It looked as bad as I feared. 

 

There are very few onscreen deaths and when there is a kill the camera cuts just before it is made.  There is no blood.  There is nothing.  Two hours of undiluted nothing.

WWZ has very few redeeming qualities:

As a zombie film World War Z is devoid of any tension, emotion or scares and gets 2/10.

As an adaptation of a book World War Z is a catastrophic mess in which all involved should hang their heads in shame – 0/10

This has become my most hated film.  I would happily watch Scott Pilgrim if it meant avoiding sitting through WWZ once more.