REVIEW - WORLD WAR Z

Zombies are experiencing quite a resurgence the past few years. You might even say they're rising from the dead (sorry). Since the turn of the century all media has been obsessed with Zombies; from films, across Television (The Walking Dead has been awesome) to video games (The Last of Us being the most recent success). For the first time in a while, Zombies are bankable. And it is for precisely this reason there's been a buzz about World War Z for quite some time. 

Undersells the movie a touch

Another more pressing concern of cinema-goers has been surrounding the issue of fidelity. World War Z claims inspiration from a novel of the same name, written by Max Brooks. Although I haven't read it myself (Game of Thrones has taken over my life), the above info graphic and various recommendations from friends consistently inform me of its excellence. And so onto the burning issue: how close does the film follow the novel? Lemme throw one back at ya: does it matter? 

Isn't necessarily a bad thing

 Adapting anything on to the big screen has been a contentious issue for decades, and adaptation theory is a complex and interesting area of film studies. Since the idea of transcribing a book into a film is impossible, surely holding up a final goal of "accuracy" is absurd. The film is a separate entity, and although it may borrow ideas/themes/narrative the producers don't sign a contract of loyalty. The issue of adaptation also tends to breed a particular type of cinema-goer I will term: "the arrogant book lover". We all know this person. We may have all been this person - I know I have. They will, despite probably liking the film, still pan it because a few scenes "WEREN'T LIKE THEY WERE IN THE BOOK", or "IF YOU READ THE BOOK YOU'D UNDERSTAND" , or simply: "THE BOOK IS JUST WAY BETTER".

NOOOOOOOOOOOO

All this talk is basically just an excuse to ignore talking about the book having not read it, and so onto the film! World War Z opens in Philadelphia (wooo, shoutout!), with Gerry Lane (Bradley Pitt) stuck in heavy traffic with his supposedly "British" wife and two kids. This is a fairly familiar trick/allegory with Zombie/apocalypse films; open the film in the "birthplace" of the USA just as things are about to get dead. Clever ay!? Here is the switch from politics to zombies. A few explosions & a car crash soon sends Gerry scrambling to get his family safe, as he does so he witnesses a frothing human biting an unsuspecting victim. The bitten then experiences convulsions and more frothing before turning on his own family with more hunger than Eamonn Holmes before This Morning's breakfast buffet.

Zombie cats were in the book, right?

Barely escaping Philly, Pitt and family are then called by Thierry - an old pal from Pitt's UN days - who offers Pitt his family's protection in return for some Zombie hunting. After a tense apartment block scene, the family are helicoptered off to an airship about 100 miles off the Eastern seaboard, at the newly assembled headquarters. Gerry is then stripped from his family, and sent on a wild goose chase across the world to find the source of the virus and therefore, the cure. The film kicks up pace at this point and evolves into a thrilling chase - Bradley chasing the cure with Zombos chasing Bradley. 

What Max Brooks says about Hollywoood Zombies in Zombie Survival Guide

Although I am a huge fan of George A. Romero's films, that beautifully mix social commentary with zombies getting chopped by rotating helicopter blades, there is nothing in the zombie film manual that demands a sociopolitical insight. World War Z briefly flirts with the idea with a sequence in Jerusalem, however it quickly dumps this tract in favour of more heart stopping action. And heart stopping it is - alongside a superb performance from Pitt, World War Z keeps you gripped throughout, and has enough ingenuity to make it stand out of the Zombie horde.  

42/50 STATES