Chix Cat on File review: Aggressive zombie infestation

Rating: 7/10 (30 June 2013)

The trailer made World War Z look like the zombie population had gone extreme, with them developing the new talent of running. What an unfair advantage now in their favor considering the lumbering gait was the only thing that provided some level of protection for the human race. This year has been evolutionary for the zombie, since we now also know from Warm Bodies that there's even zombie love. There is some consistency in what has been the recent approach to zombification, it starts with some fatal contagion, not like the good old days when a vampire enslaves a human which keeps the numbers low, or a voodoo casting or the result of some improperly contained hazardous chemical, now everything is a virus run rampant. Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is a United Nations employee and is reactivated to track down the invading agent and try to figure out how to stop it. I don't know what UN employees do and after this film I still don't. There was a segment where Gerry is sent to accompany mankind's best hope for finding a cure and I'm not sure if he was supposed to be some level of protection but the situation just got direr rather than better. My favorite aspect about the story aside from Mr. Pitt of course is what puts the human race at its greatest disadvantage, the speed of the zombies. The special effects that allowed for them to climb atop each other and perform record breaking tackles added to the intensity. Although the movement and feel seemed very similar to the creations from I Am Legend, it was still rather chilling to watch as the human race was quickly being annihilated. My biggest complaint about the story is that I left the theater with no greater insight into what was the intrusive culprit than I had already gathered from the previously mentioned trailer that it's a contaminating virus with unknown origins and is aggressively spreading. I did not find this story particularly scary but it did pass my 3-D test, yes I flinched, actually a few times. I just kept thinking keep that guy Gerry away, because it just seemed that wherever he was the zombie infestation grew. That may not have been the reality since the problem was supposedly worldwide, but as good as Mr. Pitt looked as 'every man', he was bad luck for everybody except himself. I liked the film, but felt as if too much was given away in the trailer, therefore I give it an amber light.