The Losses are incalculable....and that's just the investors talking! A Dead movie project comes back as a mindless but still quite swift Zombie!

Rating: 7/10 (22 June 2013)

The story behind the making of "world war Z" is of course more fascinating than the film itself. A best selling cult book that took real world geo-politics, military planning, history and personal experience then threw in zombies way before the cast of Sense and Sensibility or Abraham Lincoln were fighting them, a bidding war between star players and high hopes. Then the script re-writes, the production delays, the film losing all sense of shape and direction as it is passed from hand to hand, a reputation as a bad joke growing, all satirical and political aspects that made the book so popular trimmed away layer by layer till all we were left with was just another Frakking Zombie movie! Then a disastrous premiere in London and lukewarm critical reception leading to this.
With films such as this, one has to be more understanding, aware that what we are seeing is the salvaged remains of a greater idea rather than a complete piece of work, a fire damaged good up for cheap sale. So do not go in expecting something spectacular or magnificent.
As an international thriller it works OK, and Brad Pitt is as good a central figure as any other leading man. There are plenty of Zombies and plenty of action, and Marco Beltrami's score hits all the right notes.
The main problems (for us anyway) are: (1) The structure. We start off with Brad and his all-American (actually half English) family enjoying their all-American family life when suddenly they are caught up in stock "sudden city-wide panic and chaos" and flee from crashing cars into supermarket chaos then into a high rise for some "Raid/Dredd" corridors of despair hide and seek then "chased by hoard onto roof and jumping onto helicopter just as hoard reach them, trying to grab onto the landing gear" before they reach "ultra professional cool under fire military centre" (this time in a ship) Then Pitt, an ex top UN investigator, is forcibly re-instated and goes off on a "quest for the source of the outbreak". What follows is basically the same silly premise repeated four times. He arrives in South Korea, gets a little bit of info, then Zombies break loose and kill everyone he was helping. Then he arrives in Isreal and gets a little bit of info, then Zombies break loose and kill everyone he was helping. Then they get on the first airliner out of Tel Aviv and finds a little bit of info then Zombies break loose and kill everyone on board, then they arrive at World Health Organization centre in Wales where Zombies have broken loose and killed everyone, and then he arrives at the answer to the viruses spread, and finds the solution. All the problems of a post-Zombie world. the whole point of the original book, are lightly brushed over with a Muse soundtracked cosy coda. It is repetitive, especially the second and third acts, which are the same thing repeated. (2) Unoriginality. As per above precis, everything here is stock and by the book, Nothing new or fresh at all in a genre that is virtually burned out. Even the Zombies and the scenes they are in are identical to those in any of the "Resident Evil" films. You sit there constantly waiting for Mila Jovovich to burst in all guns blazing doing her high kick moves, or at the very least a boss monster/licker to leap out. As a result the film feels too samey. (3) Silliness. Whilst clearly not the original intention, the end result looks silly and often plays like a Hannah Barbera Saturday morning cartoon. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong every single time, and Pitts brilliant solutions (blow up an airplane in mid air? On the spot amputations on a hunch?) come from nowhere and are ALWAYS proved right! This is not helped by the seriousness and stiff lipped manner everything occurs, which only adds to an unfortunate air of camp and silliness. The book was written by Max Brooks, but at times the film seems more inspired by his father Mel!
Acting wise everyone is good, Pitt is fine, if not exactly super emotional. Mireille Enos as Pitt's wife and Daniella Kertesz as the Israeli woman soldier who becomes his sidekick are good, as are James Badge Dale as the commander of the South Korean outpost, and Peter Capaldi and Pierfrancesco Pavini are solid as the WHO doctors in the final segment. Fana Mokoeana appears as his old UN boss and handler while Ludi Boeken makes for a suitably philosophical Mossad boss in the Tel Aviv scenes.
Special effects are mostly OK, but are often weak and rushed (plane crash-jerky zombies) Scotland and Glasgow pass for Wales and Philadelphia while Malta passes for South Korea and Israel (not too badly actually). Budapest PASSED for Moscow till all those scenes were cut to avoid making it "too political" (Ha!)
Like previous disaster stricken projects such as "The Invasion" and "The Island of Dr Moreau" there is a kind of flatness, a weakness and lack of drive, a sense of cracks papered over and corners held together with duct tape just enough to be able to sell it off cheap and make what little can be made on the lost investment. As cruel as it is, we actually enjoyed it more as a sort of unintentional comedy "MSTK3000" style than as a serious sci-fi horror thriller, for which it is highly entertaining. So if nothing else, you can enjoy it as a sort of comedy, preferably at a midnight show with friends after a few beers!
It isn't a summer blockbuster, and it isn't a film version of "World War Z", but there is far worse out there, and a with a little charity for it's hard life it is actually quite a good night at the cinema,