Review: World War Z
By Christine Petralia





Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures
June 23, 2013
Based on the 2006 novel of the same name, the premise is simple, our hero has to figure out the origin and cure to a zombie pandemic that has taken over the world. This nail-biter, that is rated PG-13 to attract a younger audience, is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. And you will thoroughly enjoy it, if you set aside the logistics of certain parts of the film.
Retired UN employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is on a family trip down in Philadelphia, when something strange stops traffic. Soon, humans pour into the streets running from zombies. And these zombies not only turn in a matter of seconds, but they are fast motherf’ers. In a poor attempt to escape, they find a camper and head north, where they end up at a Newark supermarket, which of course has been looted. Lane finds medicine for his eldest with asthma, while his wife (Mireille Enos) gets supplies. They seek refuge in an apartment building while they wait for a government helicopter to pick them up and bring them to safety aboard a tanker in the Atlantic.
Once aboard, Lane is informed by his former UN colleague that he must accompany a virologist on a mission that will start in South Korea to find the origin and a cure for the pandemic. One that US officials are refusing to call zombies, though others around the world are. Lane refuses at first, but he is told that in order to keep his family safe aboard the vessel, he must go or they have to leave.
Lane and his crew land in South Korea, where they are attacked by zombies and the virologist is killed by accident. The remaining crew seeks shelter with military personnel and Lane starts to piece together clues about the origin. The next stop along the mission, is Israel, which had erected a wall around Jerusalem before the pandemic started after hearing rumors of zombies. However, while seeking more information from Israeli officials, the wall is breached and Lane is forced to run to a plane at the airport. On the plane, Lane pieces together all of the information he’s observed and thinks he’s found a cure. He contacts the tanker and his former colleague who directs the pilot to land at a WHO location in Wales. Of course, nothing is ever that easy, and a zombie has found its way onto the plane. Lane tries to keep them in coach, but to no avail. The plane crashes and somehow, Lane and his military guide in Israel survive.
The pair somehow makes its way to the WHO location and after some more nail-biting scenes, Lane manages to ‘find a cure’ and save the world.
As I stated previously, if you can get past several logistics that just don’t make sense, it is a fun summer film. It’s offered in 3D. I think this one might be worth the extra dough, as the mass zombie scenes, the explosions and the plane crash were pretty fantastic. For those who aren’t huge Pitt fans, or who lost interest in him after the Ocean’s Eleven films, this will renew your faith in him. Of course, I found it strange that he was really the only billable name in the film, but his production company did buy the rights to the novel early on, so it was only to be expected. You could probably put anyone in that role (perhaps Andrew Lincoln from The Walking Dead?), and they would do an OK job, but it definitely wouldn’t draw people to the theater as Pitt does.
I have not read the novel, so I’m curious how true to it did the screenwriters stay? Anyone read it that might want to comment?
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