Re-imagines the zombocalypse but misses the heights of 28 Days Later.

Rating: 5/10 (19 July 2013)

There's been much hoo-ha about Marc Forster's (Finding Neverland, Quantum of Solace) interpretation of Max Brook's novel, not least of all the, ah, 'restructuring' of the story but, here at last, we have the Brad Pitt zombie flick we've been waiting for.
World War Z re-imagines the zombocalypse with an eye on Contagion and a hope of matching the brilliant freshness of 28 Days Later – heck, Forster's even brought in Muse to blast some tunes across the bloodshed – but though it entertains and occasionally re-imagines what zombies can and cannot do (and that's not a problem – the vampires of 30 Days of Night are vastly different from Nosferatu and more frightening for it), it falls very far short of Danny Boyle's modern classic. In 28 Days Later we appreciate the devastation that has befallen the world as Cillian Murphy wanders through a deserted London with only pigeons and the husks of crumpled double-decker buses for company. The World War Z equivalent is Brad Pitt strolling along a short street of terraced houses somewhere in Wales. It's a pale imitation and, though far from clumsy, is inadequate.
Inadequacy is the overall feeling of World War Z. It's enjoyable enough and has the occasional periods of tension, though most are given away in the trailer, and a few moments of magic. For my part, I loved the surging mountain of zombies attempting to breach the city walls in Israel but I wanted tension, I wanted to feel unnerved as well as excited. Alas, I was left wanting.
Brad Pitt makes an able hero, as Gerry Lane, and he's believable as the dad who must return to the job he left with the UN to understand the cause and evolution of the disease that is wiping out mankind, in order to guarantee safety for his wife, Karin (Mireille Enos), and their children. The scripting is acceptable but there's a dearth of characters that really matter or that one can care about until the arrival of Segan (Daniella Kertesz) as a soldier Gerry acquires along his trek.
Peter Capaldi, as a W.H.O. doctor brings a certain gravitas to proceedings but by then World War Z has stumbled into a reasonably predictable formula and, though Capaldi is a pleasure to watch, he's just another body carried along by the film.
The occasional moment of genuine delight is marred by the odd example of clunkiness and the periodic travesty. World War Z may boast the best zombie mountain since the last one but it also shrivels under the glare of absolutely the most blatant, jarring, gratuitous product placement since Will Smith gushed over his Chucks in I, Robot: Tired of killing zombies? Why not relax against a drinks machine for a couple of minutes and pop yourself a Pepsi as the other survivors and the audience tick off the seconds and watch you It's unnecessary and it convinced me to knock another star off the rating.
World War Z is emphatically not as bad many people will have you believe. It's fun, it passes the time but, coming from Pitt and a director of Forster's caliber, it jolly well should be better! For more reviews from The Squiss, subscribe to my blog and like the Facebook page.