A Missed Opportunity

Rating: 6/10 (19 June 2013)

World War Z is a very disappointing entry into the zombie movie genre. Despite its high production costs, and accomplished director and lead actor; the film lacks a convincing story with intensity and heart to support its interesting premise.
The film is based on Max Brooks' 2006 horror novel, World War Z. The novel was loved by critics and fans for its fascinating story and characters; the realism of the world leaders' reaction to the epidemic was especially praised.
The film version, on the other hand, lacks all the qualities that made the novel an international success. First, the film diverges significantly from the source material; to the point that the majority of the story-line in the film was absent in the book. The movie is about a former United Nations investigator (Brad Pitt) attempts to survive the zombie apocalypse with his family; then later, his search for the first patient to get the disease. I am generally fine with filmmakers distancing the movie from the source material. If a film was simply a shot-for-shot remake of a book, it would seem very boring and uninspiring. Last year's critically acclaimed, Silver Linings Playbook, diverged slightly from the original story, which made for a more intriguing and entertaining film. World War Z, however, has little to no resemblance of the original story or characters that made the novel so successful; the distinctions are so great that I do not even know why they named the film after the novel.
Excluding the comparisons to the novel, the movie is still an expensive, but bland representation of a zombie apocalypse. The movie revolves around Pitt trying to avoid, and eventually fighting zombies in different locations around the world (Philadelphia, New Jersey, South Korea, Israel and Wales), while he tries to survive and find the origin of the disease. The action scenes would have been interesting if they were not so repetitive and unoriginal. Each scene began with Pitt walking slowly, telling others to be quiet (even though they never were); then because of the lack of consideration and/or stupidity of the other people, they would get attacked by zombies, with Pitt always being one of the few survivors. What's even more disappointing is that the films visuals were not even that impressive. According to Vanity Fair, the film cost a reported $200 million. I am perplexed regarding where the budget went because the film did not have that many expensive action scenes, while the visual effects were mediocre at best.
Often an interesting character with emotion and depth can make up for an uninspiring plot. Even though Brad Pitt puts in a solid performance, his character is too one-dimensional and lifeless to add anything substantial to the film. Pitt's character is the typical reporter in movies who does not get scared by anything; even when his family was nearly eaten alive by zombies, he keeps on a cool face. Moreover, after hearing that his family had been removed from the safety of a military ship, he gave a quick sad face, and then returned to his mission, seemingly unaffected. I understand that some people (i.e. military officials and police officers) distance themselves emotionally from a traumatic event to maintain their focus and determination; however, the character lacked any form of human emotion, which made it difficult for me to invest in his journey.
The movie's plot was somewhat boring and uneventful; yet, it is still superior to most expensive action films. The story was realistic and flowed well; moreover, there was only one instance of unintentional laughs, and the story surprisingly did not contain many plot holes.
The lack of intensity in the action scenes and characters really restricted the movie. I think the biggest mistake was making the movie PG-13. The filmmakers tried to sugar-coat the zombie genre, so that children would be able to watch the movie. I find it difficult to imagine an interesting and scary horror/action movie about millions of zombies trying to kill and eat the remaining survivors that is made for adults and kids. In the end, the movie that was about cannibalistic zombies had very little blood, violence or frightening images. I was never scared or disturbed by the zombies; nor, did I feel the severity of the world-wide crisis.
World War Z is a missed opportunity. Despite its interesting premise, the film's one-dimensional and emotionless lead character, lack of intensity, and unspectacular action scenes makes this one of the most disappointing movies of the summer.