Definitely different

Rating: 8/10 (23 June 2013)

WORLD WAR Z - My thoughts and opinions....
OK, so the 2nd movie in our drive-in extravaganza of fun was World War Z, the film based in name only on the Max Brooks novel of the same title.
Since the novel release of WWZ, zombie fans clamored at the chance to see it once it was announced it would be turned into a feature film. Brad Pitt, who also stars, produced the film through his Plan B entertainment company which also bought the rights to the film the novel.
After the purchase, it was reported the source material would be lightly used since filming the book as written wouldn't work not too mention drive the production budget into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Fast forward years later, the film still wasn't on its way to being green light because the budget was reported at $125,000,000, which makes WWZ the most expensive zombie film ever made. Once Brad agreed to join the cast, Paramount put the cash and director Marc Forster was announced to helm... I can't speak for everyone, but I knew this would be a disaster, Marc Forster, who directed Quantum of Solace, arguably one of the worst bond films ever made, was now directing his 10th film, and out of his resume only Monster's Ball was enjoyable. I equate him to John Moore, who has about the same track record in his resume.
Filming begins in Scotland, and suddenly reports of blown shots, and other production issues begin filling out the horror news feeds, not too mention leaked footage taken BTS showing running zombies which make the DOTD remake zombies look slow, and top it with a release date change from 12/21/2012 to June 21, 2013 doesn't bode well for the production and we learn why in a bit. Still there may be hope, until the 1st trailer hits and the amount of CGI was just WOW. Fast Forward, April 2013, Vanity Fair releases a news article noting the films writer admitting the film is a mess, and needed some $70 million dollars worth of re-shoots because the ending of the film doesn't make sense. Now the bad JuJu vibes begin plaguing the thoughts of zombie fans world wide.
Additional trailers being released doesn't seem to sway opinion that much, so opening weekend forecasts for box office began starting in the $35,000,000 range which is not good for a $200,000,000 zombie film. Now with $200 mil on the line, Paramount opts for the PG-13 route, to hopefully recoup the budget spent on the film, of course outrage ensues among fans of the book who are ticked source material is gravely ignored, and the fact PG-13 pretty much lets us know gore, if any would be minimal at best.
Advance screenings begin and word of mouth begins to shift, WWZ is good... WHAT, internet fan boys the world over are crapping kittens that people are saying WWZ is enjoyable... are they right?
Well, Yes and no. WWZ has its issues, CGI being the primary. However, it definitely went out of left field with the creation of a vaccine to make humans, food for our zombies, be non desirable to the zombies. I thought, hey, this is a cool angle, but also because of the non-gore, you now have zombies who can sense things about the humans, which is all new to the zombie lore we're all accustomed too as fans. I enjoyed how they used the Harvard scientist to tell us Mother Nature wants to get caught, as she leave bread crumbs on how to defeat her, we just have to be very observant. This was brilliant, especially as it is being said to our lead Gerry (Brad Pitt) who is a retired UN investigator who had keen skills for finding the source of outbreaks because of his observational skills as an investigator. Once these words are uttered you start to see the process in which Gerry thinks and acts in motion, it is hinted at once the outbreak begin in Philadelphia, and almost takes Gerry and his family from us, he watches as zombies attack and turn others and the rate at which they turn is about 10 seconds, which makes this virus more align with Rage from 28 days later, but all health and military folks tell us they are dead people. So it is not a race to save and convert the infected, it is a race to save the remaining humans. When Gerry explains the theory to surviving members of the W H O, they are at first taken back, but once put into a situation where our hero has to be the guinea pig, we learn so much more about how the zombie plague works.
Because of these new items introduced into zombie lore, WWZ doesn't feel like the typical zombie films we have watched and enjoyed over the years thanks However, WWZ can't get all praise, the fact zombies only bite someone to infect them leaves us feeling cheated. What we have here is an amped up remake the recent remake of the crazies with a semi-zombie angle as opposed to a tried and true zombie film. Add to it the Brad Pitt family angle is only there to force him out of retirement when the military says either help us or find your own refuge.
So we get typical clichés with a mix of something new that helps WWZ become a better film than it should be as a whole. I walked in with Extremely low expectations, but came out thinking, WOW, something new a different, it has flaws but works.
I would definitely say WWZ is worth a solid B+ or A--, but until I can see the Blu-Ray in my home and catch whatever I missed in my drive-in experience... my rating stands firm at B+ for now.