Big Surprise

Rating: 7/10 (31 July 2013)

I've read WWZ by Max Brooks and wasn't really all that impressed. Still while reading it I visualized a much different film than what appeared in the first trailers for this film. But in it's long journey to the screen there were rumblings of troubled set reports and than a huge release date shift, never a good sign. So it is indeed surprising that the finished product is as solid as it is, not to say it's flawless by any means. The cinematic adaptation works more as an inspiration than a story base. The girth of the novel is still there. It is a world taken over by the undead. But the creatures in this film are of a different sort. Similar to the fast zombies of 28 days later and the Dawn of the Dead remake these are even more aggressive if you can imagine that. Not only do they run but they dive and jump. The movie like it's zombies possesses an urgency that makes the proceedings work fairly well. Moving from one expertly choreographed action set piece to another as it spans the globe. That being said there is some goofiness here an airplane attack although shocking is a bit silly and some of the zombie moments come across a little unintentionally funny. Still the idea of the zombies moving like a virus swarm through the human body and the defense strategy are impressive and do breathe a bit of life into the concept. As for the human characters they are decent if a little generic Brad Pitt does surprisingly well in the lead giving a depth to his character that is much needed. I only wish they would have slowed down more throughout the film to develop a depth to the material a bit more and amped up the soft ending. But after the massive opening weekend there are now talks of a sequel as it was originally planned as a trilogy. which leaves me a hopeful that they will iron out the few kinks. Still what stands is a solid summer film. Very entertaining and breathtakingly intense. 3.5/5