World War Brad

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2013)

The review: This movie is tough to classify into a genre. I'm not even sure what genre I would say it fits into. It has some elements in common with popular zombie movies like "28 Days" and "Dawn of the Dead", such as moments of complete silence and suspense and then utter surprise, screeching, and shock when the attack comes. There are also some elements of war movies and crisis movies. The zombies in this film are like none I've ever seen in a movie before and probably because of the limitations of visual effects previously. They are fast, swarm in packs, flail about recklessly and did I mention fast? The movie moves at a moderately fast pace for the most part, especially the scenes involving the zombies. It seems like there is some drama and conversation, then some foreshadowing of some sort, a noise, or something strange that happens, and then cue multiple zombies coming hard, and coming fast. Gerry Lane is a man working against time, working to get back to his family, and working to save mankind. The gravity of the end of mankind isn't really felt in the movie. I think the trailer actually stressed the dire nature of the outbreak and the end of mankind better. Gerry first arrives on a military aircraft carrier with his family during the crisis and doesn't want to leave, but after he gets an ultimatum that his family would no longer be welcome if he doesn't help, he and a tactical seal team of three and a doctor travel to find the cause of this virus. I think it goes without saying that the whole team does not survive, and their demise doesn't take long either. Soon Gerry is forced to make multiple alliances with various strangers and allies to figure out the source, a weakness, or some revelation to help the "good guys". In this formula are the strengths and weaknesses of the film. It helped the film because it made everyone expendable, and Lane entered and exited each location in style and either very quietly or with guns blazing and usually ended up leaving with thousands of zombies in pursuit. It was also a weakness because Lane (Pitt) suffered a bit from "McClane" syndrome. He is incredibly lucky, almost dies many times, but never quite is affected enough by the crazy attacks, crashes, or explosions. There are no cynical, sarcastic remarks made though about mortality or the bad guys like we usually get from Bruce Wills however. It's also odd that Lane is the "only" hope and we don't see the leadership talk about back up plans, anything else that is happening, or what will happen when Lane fails to come through. Are there other people doing the same job or is everyone else mindlessly firing at swarms of zombies? Overall I think the tone, length, dialogue, effects, etc. work well. Some things could've been stressed more with a longer run time, but limiting some of this broadens the audience and makes it slightly lighter if this type of movie can be light.