Pretty Exciting, But Stick To The Book!

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2013)

Having read Max Brook's wonderful book, I was thrilled when they announced a forthcoming movie. After seeing the trailer, I had my doubts. The book was separated into sections, chronicling how people around the world survived the zombie epidemic. And Max mercifully had the zombies be Romero's slow-moving, flesh-eating ones. In the movie, they are extremely fast, smart and do many unzombie-like things like incredible leaps, bashing through windows with their heads, etc. A few of the stories do make it into the movie. The most notable, for anyone who's seen the trailers, is the wall in Israel. But that's where the similarities end. In the movie, Brad Pitt plays Gerry Lane, a former UN operative. He's driving his family to work and school when they're stuck in a traffic jam in Philadelphia. A building in the distance explodes and people start running away from zombies. The rest of the film follows Gerry and his family as he re-joins the UN and flies around the world, trying to figure out a cure for the epidemic. Don't get me wrong, the movie has its moments. There are a few places where you're guaranteed to jump with fright, and the finale is freaky! My biggest problem is that they took what was an excellent book and watered it down to fit a 2-hour time slot. I'd much rather them leave the story like it was, and have it be a TV mini-series, like THE WALKING DEAD. You could definitely get a good three seasons at least, just following the book's style. Overall though, WWZ is pretty exciting with smart characters and a gripping story. Just don't go into it, if you've read the book, expecting it to be the same!