Film by Committee

Rating: 5/10 (9 July 2013)

Melbourne has not always been the dynamic and thriving multi-cultural metropolis it is today.
Prior to an influx of peoples from Mediterranean countries, it was, by all accounts, something of a staid and dull Anglo-Celtic enclave, closed at weekends. When Stanley Kramer filmed the apocalyptic Melbourne-based film On the Beach in the late 1950s, its co-star, Ava Gardner, was quoted as stating that 'Melbourne was the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world.' It's now widely accepted that the story is erroneous and the delightful Ava made no such disparaging remark – not publicly anyway. However, the sentiment stuck as at the time it had a semblance of truth about it.
It seems just as appropriate therefore, that in making a film about zombies, Marc Forster, should deem it fit to base the action in Wales. Sadly, it appears that this was the best and only good idea anyone behind the film ever had.
A vehicle for Brad Pitt, who co-produced, the film barely contains any new idea or stroke of inspiration. This is film-making by numbers, giving the impression it was made to order by a committee of middle managers.
The opening, all too familiar scenario, of Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a retired UN 'investigator', now a happily domesticated full-time father, being reluctantly dragged out of retirement for one last job in exchange for his family's safety really set the hackneyed tone for the rest of the film.
As zombies worldwide infect the population through biting, desperate UN officials assign Lane as protector to British doctor Andrew Fassbach who it seems is the only person who might be able to detect the cause of the outbreak and thus discover a cure. After the early demise of Dr Fassbach, it falls to Brad Pitt, apparently with no medical training, to take over his work and save the world. It's a zombie film, I wasn't looking for realism, but, please, there are still limits. Besides, the North Koreans already seemed to have the perfect answer. Over a 24 hour period, they simply set up a program whereby their 23 million citizens had all their teeth extracted – no teeth, no biting, no infection. Simple.
The scenes of mass panic with the zombie undead attacking panicking humans and piling themselves up against fortified walls in order to breach them gave the impression that this was a film based on a graphic computer game.
The film appeared to be without subtext or purpose and it was difficult to retain interest or care about the participants.
There were some humorous moments, though whether these were intentional or not was hard to gauge. But at least it provided the audience I saw the film with several laughs.
The acting, the direction, the cinematography are all ordinary – I saw the film in 2D. The script is below par. The end clearly set the film up for a sequel and I'm since given to understand that two are planned. Whether they materialise remains to be seen.