Sadly boring

Rating: 5/10 (28 June 2013)

I had been anticipating this movie for months. The previews looked good. The book was good. I understood there was no way to make the book into a movie as written but I hoped the movie would be true to the spirit of the book. Unfortunately... not. The movie and book basically have two things in common, Zombies and a U.N. employee.
The most surprising aspect of the movie for me was that I found it to be boring. Something I never expected. There were some great scenes and visual images but they fell oddly flat because their outcome was never in any real doubt. Brad Pitt was not going to die early in the movie or late in the movie. His wife and children were not going to die or turn into zombies. Brad Pitt's character always, magically, no matter how unlikely, had a way out of whatever situation he was thrust into.
And the third act? Totally unimaginative. Ridiculous. A cop out. Nothing to do with the book at all.
Could have been a great movie. Good special effects, good actors, some great photography, good build up of tension in some scenes, but ultimately a failure.