A run-of-the-mill but effective zombie/pandemic thriller

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2014)

Heading into "World War Z," all expectations need to be tossed and burned. Once you read the book and watch any trailer, it's clear that the Paramount wanted to make a large-scale zombie film and felt more comfortable basing it on established source material than an original story. Hard to blame them, for as well as Max Brooks creates a portrait of war through documentary- like post-war accounts, very little of his novel could be characterized as cinematic.
For a total reinterpretation, however, "World War Z" manages to be a welcome addition to the worldwide pandemic/zombie genre. The script speaks to the power of many minds being better than one, with Matthew Michael Carnahan ("State of Play"), "Lost" writers Drew Goddard ("The Cabin in the Woods") and Damon Lindelof ("Prometheus") and a story by J. Michael Straczynski ("Thor"). Director Marc Forster, as well, shows he's a more capable action director than "Quantum of Solace" gave him credit for. "World War Z" manages to create suspense and intrigue despite being far from the first film about society breaking down at the hands of rabid flesh-eating zombies.
Zombies all too often go hand-in-hand with the horror genre, but "World War Z" plays out as more of a thriller and a survival film. Brad Pitt's Gerry Lane must work with the government to uncover clues toward a possible cure, and he also must run for his life when things take a quick turn and his or his family's safety is compromised. His quest takes him to South Korea, Jerusalem and Wales.
There's little to "World War Z" that doesn't meet the eye. It works primarily as an exercise in tension and thrives on its ability to lend a certain freshness to the genre. Although nothing about the film is unfamiliar to any fan of zombie flicks, Forster gives us the sense that we're experiencing it all for the first time, playing off any prior knowledge of zombies we might feel we have, in a sense, in order to keep us on our toes.
Although mostly just a gore-less version of "28 Weeks Later," "World War Z" manages not to do anything too stupid to insult the genre or draw negative attention to itself. Considering how far it veers from the popular source material, "World War Z" was ripe for derision from fans and critics, but its ability to work as a suspenseful thriller manages to save its value as a blockbuster.
~Steven C
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