Mindless Action and PG-13 Zombies; Weak, but Serviceable

Rating: 7/10 (30 November 2013)

WORLD WAR Z was everything I expected from director Marc Forster, the man behind QUANTUM OF SOLACE. It's an action-centric PG-13 zombie film with a major actor in the foreground to draw in mainstream audiences for a guaranteed box office success. I've heard nothing but awesome buzz about the novel from Max Brooks that loans the movie its title (and apparently not much else) but I've not had a chance to read it before seeing the movie. I suppose this might've helped me keep a more unbiased perspective when watching it, since I wouldn't spend the movie grumbling about all the wasted potential in the source material. Nope, instead I had my own series of gripes with the film. Primarily, I hated that the movie seemed more interested in crafting major action sequence after major action sequence than actually creating an engaging plot. I wouldn't go so far as to call WORLD WAR Z a bad movie, but it's certainly the epitome of mindless summer entertainment. The movie follows former U.N. investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) as he and his family struggle to survive once the zombie apocalypse erupts across the world. Once his family is secured on a naval vessel, Lane is roped into joining an investigation into the origins of the zombie epidemic. Lane jets off to start his investigation in South Korea and will follow the trail around the globe in hopes of finding the source and, maybe, a cure or vaccine to save the planet from collapsing under the scourge of the undead.
Let's start with a minor quibble. What sort of fun can you expect from a PG-13 zombie film? Seriously. Zombies are rotting, shambling undead with a hunger for human flesh. But WORLD WAR Z spares us any real violence or gore associated with the zombie genre, instead giving us swarms of indistinguishable zombies and bursts of mostly bloodless gunfire. The zombies in the film are (mostly) your typical fast-sprinting, growling beasts. Some discoloration of the skin and a bit of blood around the mouth, with the occasional bit of facial deterioration when you're lucky enough to see one up close. No disembowelments or half- mangled zombies with their insides out. It's all toned down to fit into its more audience friendly PG-13 rating. The zombies are treated as more of a global virus, swarming and climbing over obstacles in tidal waves of faceless monsters. Their shot and blown up without any payoff and the victims are never more than tackled and vaguely munched on, convulsing on the ground before jumping up to join the masses. I don't know. Maybe I'm just old- fashioned but I miss when zombies weren't yowling athletes who run down their prey at super speeds. This leads into my next major problem with WORLD WAR Z
This movie is all about the massive action sequences. Plot takes a back seat to elaborate action scenes on a global scale. As if to make sure you know what you're in for, the movie gives you little to no time to introduce its characters. We get five minutes of a family pancake breakfast with Gerry, his wife, and their two daughters before we're thrown right in to the first major action scene: the fall of Philadelphia. From then on, we get bits of character development to fill the quiet moments between explosive action scenes as Gerry begins his globetrotting mission. The scenes themselves are pretty impressive. I'm not going to deny that. When the zombies invade Jerusalem, it's a pretty awesome sight; and the initial chaos in Philadelphia sets the tone for the film pretty effectively. My problem isn't with the action or its execution; it's that it's the main focus of the movie. Just as with QUANTUM OF SOLACE, the plot here is nothing but filler for when people aren't running from zombies or slaughtering them by the dozen. The best part of the whole movie (for me) was the final act when Lane arrives at a World Health Organization center in Wales where the bombastic action steps aside and allows for some quiet suspense. The Wales portion of the film is exactly the sort of stuff I love in a zombie movie. Taut and thrilling with our main character stalking through a facility trying to avoid confrontation as opposed to just running in, guns blazing. I thought the final resolution was a nice touch. Lane's major discovery that is meant to turn the tide of the war against the zombies is an interesting development, but I wonder how it took so long for someone to formulate that theory. Someone had to have noticed it before Lane had his realization so late into the zombie war. Whatever. Thoughtful storytelling isn't exactly this movie's strongest point.
WORLD WAR Z is a perfect example of mindless summer action. Leave your brain at the door when you settle in for this one and try to find fun in all the gunfire and zombie hordes. You won't want to try and think about this one too hard. Kudos to Brad Pitt for his role in the film. Pitt's a great actor and he brings some gravitas to a genre that doesn't often see big name stars in the cast. He does the best he can with pretty weak material, but he's mostly just running from Point A to Point B while avoiding becoming some zombie's next meal. The visual effects are great and the final act attempts to redeem the movie's otherwise shallow, lazy nature. WORLD WAR Z is far from memorable and I suppose its greatest success was provoking me into reading the novel to see what I've missed.