Arguably the best zombie film since George A. Romero's classic 'DAWN OF THE DEAD'!

Rating: 9/10 (22 June 2013)

'WORLD WAR Z': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
'WORLD WAR Z' is probably the best zombie film since George A. Romero's 1978 classic 'DAWN OF THE DEAD', despite it's PG-13 rating (the film should have been rated R but the studio bought a commercial friendly rating for it). Romero was a big influence on the writer of the book it's based on, of the same name, Max Brooks. The book 'World War Z' is a 2006 sequel to Brooks' popular 2003 hit 'The Zombie Survival Guide'. It's a collection of different characters' accounts of a ten year zombie war and what follows. The movie deviates quite a bit from the book and centers on a retired U.N. agent (played by Brad Pitt) that travels around the world looking for a way to stop a zombie apocalypse. It was written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (who also wrote the political thrillers 'STATE OF PLAY', 'LIONS FOR LAMBS' and 'KINGDOM') and J. Michael Straczynski (who's well known for creating the popular sci-fi TV series 'BABYLON 5' and the comic book 'Rising Stars'). Two of the best writers in Hollywood, Drew Goddard and Damon Lindelof (who both wrote over thirty to forty episodes of the immensely popular TV show 'LOST'), rewrote the entire third act of the film. With all that talent attached to writing the script you know you're going to get something good! Marc Forster (director of 'MONSTER'S BALL', 'FINDING NEVERLAND', 'STRANGER THAN FICTION' and the 2008 Bond film 'QUANTUM OF SOLACE') directed the film. The result is nothing short of spectacular!
Pitt plays Gerry Lane, a retired U.N. investigator who is now a stay-at-home dad as the film opens. He's stuck in traffic in Philadelphia one day, with his wife Karen (Mireille Enos) and two daughters (Abigail Hargrove and Sterling Jerins), when the world suffers a zombie outbreak. Gerry and his family survive the night, on the run, and make it on to a roof top where they're rescued by Gerry's former employers. He's then asked to go back to work and travel the world looking for a way to stop the zombie pandemic before it wipes out all life on the planet. Realizing his family won't survive if he refuses Gerry reluctantly complies.
The film is a masterpiece of the horror genre. It's also the first zombie film to take it's subject matter this seriously (since maybe Romero's early work) and portrays it (for the most part) realistically. Some fans of the book hate that it strays so far from it's source material but if you look at it just as a film inspired by a book (rather than the book in movie form) you should be able to enjoy it more. Even the author, Brooks, said Stracynski's last draft of the script was "amazing" and 'Aint it Cool News' claimed the film could have many arguing "whether or not a zombie movie qualifies as 'Best Picture' material"! I doubt it will be nominated for best picture but I agree it should. It's taken the horror genre, and zombie films in general, to new heights in respectable filmmaking. The filmmakers compare it to the 'Bourne' movies but I think it's even better. It works as a political thriller, an exhilarating action film and a creepy and disturbing monster movie. Pitt makes a great 'thinking man's action hero'; he rarely ever fights or uses a gun but instead thinks his way through every situation. All of the characters are intriguing and there's great cameos from the likes of David Morse and Matthew Fox (in a very small part). The film is full of great suspense, fast paced action, spectacular visuals and cool zombie moments (and the zombies look and act great). Forster's directing is more than adequate but once again it's the four grade A writers that really make the film work. It's full of good plot development and amazingly clever dialogue (with lines like "Mother Nature is a serial killer"). The movie should make George A. Romero proud.
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