World War Z

As with most zombie movies the plot is rather contrived and unbelievable (even if you accept the existence of zombies) but if you want to watch zombie movies in the first place that is something that you are supposed to be immune to. This is another variant of zombies being created by some virus and rapidly taking over most of the planet. As I said, the entire story is somewhat unbelievable. When I first read about zombies as a kid there was always some supernatural/magic stuff involved. I think I liked that “explanation” much better than the virus nonsense which just have too many holes in it. For example there is no way a virus could make human bodies roam around aimlessly inside a sterile laboratory for days without nutrition. Well, as I said, it is a zombie movie so one just have to get over these little issues. As an action movie with zombies as the main adversary it is a fairly good movie. The action is solid, the special effects okay and the entire movie continues at a reasonably brisk pace. Pitt is also doing a decent job of his role. There are few of the other actors that are very memorable though. The scenes where the zombies pile onto each other to scale walls and even reach choppers are rather cool. The movie is not very gory for being a zombie movie. Whether that is a good thing or not depends on the viewer I guess. Personally I do not mind some gory stuff in zombie movies. There are a few annoying parts which Hollywood always seem to have to throw in. For example, the world is on the brink of the apocalypse and Lane and his wife just doesn’t want to get involved. What the f…? Also why do people always let their kids wander away in situations where they really should keep track of them? Not to mention how clumsy people always get when they have to sneak around and be silent. These things are just annoying. Anyway, this movie fulfils its purpose as two hours of action-filled but not too intelligent entertainment quite well.

This time it’s Brad Pitt’s turn to find himself embroiled in an apocalyptic drama as his “Gerry” character and his family are caught up in a zombie uprising that puts the entire population at risk. Now this isn’t just your run-of-the mill American scenario - this is a truly global one. Fortunately for humanity, “Gerry” is a former investigator for the United Nations but don’t let that put you off, he’s actually not too shabby at his job so in order to preserve those dear to him, he agrees to work for Deputy Secretary General “Umatoni” (Fana Mokoena) in trying to find some sort of cure for the pathogen that’s causing all this turmoil. That takes him to Jerusalem and the via an handily placed Belarus airways plane to Cardiff where there might just be hope if he can get to an WHO laboratory before the virus does. To be fair, here, there are some great visual effects and the zombie make-up department have done wonders to turn ordinary human beings into maniacal beings without resorting to plasticine tendrils and exploding ketchup sachets. Pitt does fine as the cerebral but still energetic all-action hero and though there’s very little original about this, it does at least try to involve the whole world in the problem and in it’s potential solution which allows roles for Peter Capaldi and Elyes Gabel to bring an internationalist look to the adventures. Of those, there are quite a few and the human pyramid that storms the Israeli capital is maybe the high point as bullets and helicopters fly around all over that sacred site. The eagle-eyed amongst us might even spot the ever-gangly John Gordon Sinclair (remember “Gregory’s Girl” from 1980?) as a navy SEAL. The production standards are high and Marc Forster doesn’t let the grass grow so if you like your sci-fi horror films end-to-end with just a little nod to science, then this isn’t bad at all.

**World War Z makes the zombie hordes even more terrifying in their relentless need to consume, coupled with their fury, speed, and inevitability. No zombie movie comes close to the horror and intensity of World War Z.** World War Z finally presents zombies as an overwhelming wave of death and destruction, an actually foreboding menace. Other zombie films shuffle about with slow shamblers whose vast numbers make them dangerous, but not in World War Z. These zombies' are unstoppable in their lust for human flesh, desperately climbing over each other to attempt to satiate their endless hunger. World War Z makes the fall of the world to the zombie plague believable for the first time. The film's frenzied pace personifies the panic and hopelessness of survival. Brad Pitt frantically scours the globe for hope and a cure, and the breakneck speed of the plot comes screeching to a halt in the final act bringing the crazed terror up close and intimate with unending anxiety. World War Z gives us the most extraordinary and unparalleled zombie movie to date and a frightening and wild ride from start to finish.