Generic zombie movie, with A-grade production and star

Rating: 6/10 (28 May 2014)

Generic zombie movie, with A-grade production and star.
Zombie movies have always been a B-grade type of movie. The cheap production values fitted well with the apocalyptic horror of the genre. Add to this the fact that every zombie drama has pretty much the same main plot, and it's a recipe for easily making hundreds of movies which are fairly indistinguishable from each other.
The only innovations in zombie movies have come in zombie-comedies, which are often parodies of zombie dramas. Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead are the best examples of these. Warm Bodies was probably the most original zombie movie since the first one, as it took a very different tact. Plus, it was half-comedy.
Plot-wise, World War Z isn't anything new. Where WWZ is different is that it has A-grade production values and a mega-name star. Take those away and it could be just another zombie movie.
This said, the special effects and other big-budget features do help. The scale of the movie is huge, and makes the production seem so real. Makes you think that what happens in WWZ could well happen in real life.
Performance-wise, Brad Pitt does his usual action-hero plus caring- family-man routine, and does it well. His appearance must have used up almost the entire acting budget, as there are no other big names in the movie (unless you are a fan of The Thick of It: good to see Peter Capaldi land a Hollywood role). David Morse, Matthew Fox and Moritz Bleibtrau have minor roles.
Reasonably entertaining, but nothing special.