GUEST REVIEW: 'World War Z'
BY JUDE PARK
It doesn’t take much for me to scream out loud in the theatres (I have been known to disturb the entire movie audience watching a romantic film) but I know a well-deserved scream when I hear it, even if it is coming from my own mouth.
Marc Forster’s new film World War Z delivers as a blockbuster that has the action to boost your spirits this summer.
On the surface, World War Z is another movie about the zombie apocalypse, to add to the endless list of zombie films that have been steadily being produced within the last decade. The outpouring of zombie culture and the success of many previous zombie movies have not stopped Brad Pitt from producing and starring in his own zombie virus film. Every time I watch one of these movies, I can’t help but feel that the outbreak of some kind of superpowered virus that will kill most of the world’s population is not too far away from reality.
But let’s talk zombies. First, there are two main types of zombies in Western media: slow, mindless ones like the creatures from The Walking Dead, or fast-moving, superhuman zombies like the ones from Resident Evil. For die-hard zombie fans, they’ll be happy to know the zombies in World War Z are the superhuman ones. They are so strong and so relentlessly fast that they can even climb 80-foot walls.
However, World War Z does have some flaws in its plausibility. First of all, the rate at which a zombie can infect a healthy, live host is ridiculously quick. It is biologically impossible for the human body to be infected and turn into human-biting zombies within a matter of 10 seconds. And although it makes for an exciting ride, watching Brad Pitt rush through city after city in the midst of infection is logically off-putting, not to mention the questionable chance of Brad Pitt managing to survive so many zombie attacks.
In the course of the movie, Brad Pitt travels to South Korea, Jerusalem, and then later to Vancouver, the only remaining safe area from the virus (How American to think that Canada will be the last remaining safe ground when a natural disaster strikes). Although it is totally understandable that the main character must survive until the end of the film for there to even be a film, Brad Pitt can surely be crowned the World’s Luckiest Man by the end of the film.
World War Z also is missing a crucial plot point: The origin of the virus. The movie offers no background story or any indication of where or how the disease started, except that it began in South Korea. This is a troubling choice for the filmmakers, since one of the reasons why virus outbreak/apocalyptic movies (Contagion and The Day After Tomorrow come to mind) have been so successful in the past is because modern audiences are increasingly aware of our battles against new epidemics. Providing an insight to the origin of the virus would have shown that the film makers were politically aware of our global fragility against Mother Nature.
All in all, I give World War Z 3 out of 4 stars, because it is well-composed enough in its action scenes to make for an exciting and enjoying experience (I screamed four times).The plot, however, needs some brushing-up to truly make it the perfect zombie movie.
What did you think of World War Z? Did it measure up to the buzz surrounding Max Brook’s source novel? Do you think the film pushed past all the doubts about the film’s troubled production? Sound off in the comments section, and if you liked this review, share it with your friends and followers! You can also browse through other recent reviews on this site here:
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