It is worth a watch but set your expectations low for zombie genre...

Rating: 5/10 (22 June 2013)

I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur of the zombie genre as I have seen many incarnations of the zombie epidemic through the classics by George Romero and more recent productions like "The Walking Dead". I have read quite a few novels as well as outlying mock survival books like Roger Ma's Zombie Combat Manual. Of course, I have read Max Brook's collection and what drew me into his writing was the narrator gaining perspective on how all of these different states and countries dealt with the zombie apocalypse as well individual accounts of survival. When I heard this book was being translated into a movie, I immediately felt it would be a huge undertaking to follow the book even loosely due to budget constraints (it would be awesome to film all of these places on-location but not very practical). I knew it would break the bank anyway with the shooting in Malta, Hungary and UK so it was important that the movie capitalize (or at least get out of the red) by employing Brad Pitt's versatile talents as an actor to bring out the best of the relatively unknown actors around him. Unfortunately, instead of "12 Monkeys" or "Fight Club", I see "Meet Joe Black" (which coincidentally was his biggest flop at the time). I know the narrator is supposed to be calm and collected (although the movie operates on a different timeline and seems more like a prequel to the book), but it appears that Pitt has no emotion at all which makes a difference in how the viewer empathizes with his character. Gerry makes no emotional connections (maybe aside from the kiss on the forehead to Segen the female soldier) with any of the other characters on-screen and is all business in hop-scotching from country to country trying to find Patient Zero and a cure. Also, how does a retired U.N. employee hold so much value to the government on finding a cure? It is like there was nobody left (aside from the scientist who comically and accidentally shot himself) on the planet with any expertise in bacteriology/virology. They make Brad Pitt look like Flash Gordon without all of the football moves. Did all of the research scientists with global military training get killed off during the initial outbreak? I guess it is plausible, but if I were president the leaders in medical research would be the first ones I would ship off to safe haven. I digress...Aside from Segen, no one aside from Pitt gets any real screen time so there are no real relationships (even familial) developed hence who cares if they die? Had Gerry died from injecting himself with a bolus of (typhus?), the mortal through and through GI wound on top of a plane crash or getting his nose bit off by the chipmunk zombie I probably would have laughed or felt indifferent. To be honest, the plot was predictable and you already knew that Gerry was going to live because who else besides Brad Pitt's star-power could carry the movie and make it watchable once you decide the plot and characters are bland? I also had a feeling that they were going to let him live to leave the window open for sequels although I think Pitt should cut his losses on this one. Another issue I have with this movie is the gratuitous use of CGI for every scene that involved the zombies. Grant it, you could never accomplish what the movie did (the zombie ladder) with extras alone; however, CGI has no place in a horror film IMO. Why? Because it removes the feeling of terror that lies in your gut after you see something shot with real actors and non-digitized special effects. There is something so visceral and believable about traditional effects that CGI can never replace no matter how evolved the technology. I did like the action and pace as well as the nod to the Chinese physician from the book that treated Patient Zero. The zombie ladder scenes were actually quite entertaining although it made them look more like ants than the undead. I think I understand why they made this movie PG-13. After going way over budget and time-consuming rewrites of the script, I imagine they have several hours of footage that ended up on the cutting room floor that would have branded it with an R rating. From what I have read, Marc Forster and Brad Pitt were at odds through most of the filming and production. I do not think Pitt got the movie he wanted and maybe that was reflected in his acting or lack thereof. He probably felt resigned to go with the PG-13 and obvious ad placements to reduce the financial hit by appealing to the teenage crowd. To my knowledge, this is the first true zombie horror-not-comedy movie in theaters with a PG-13 rating and we now know it does not work. Anyone who appreciates this genre has probably been desensitized enough by "The Walking Dead" with regard to blood and guts that it becomes glaringly apparent it is a missing element in this movie. Max Brooks was also left out of the loop which made no sense to me as they went through at least 4 screen-writers and how bad could it possibly be if he was on board to at least consult. Sadly enough, they veered like a runaway train so far off course from the book with the plot and story, they allegedly had a tough time with the ending which was anti-climactic at best. With all of this said, I still like Pitt's movies overall and will not reject his future work outright simply because he is the star. However, like M. Night Shyamalan movies, I will have to think twice before committing 2 hours of my life to another Forster flick. Now if you will excuse me, I will go read J.L. Bourne, rejuvenate and pray for no film version of his books...