Brad Pitt’s new zombie apocalypse World War Z has amazing scope with its star crisscrossing the globe on a quest to find the source of the plague. As you’re taken from one amazing landscape to another, it feels more like an event than a movie — not surprising considering its massive 200 million dollar budget. It is by far the most expensive zombie movie ever. While the movie deserves credit for trying to be more intelligent than other films in the genre, there are a few things that hold it back.
Brad Pitt plays a former United Nations investigator named Gerry Lane, who has seen action in the most violent pockets of humanity in the world — Africa, Middle East, you name it. When zombies begin to attack, his former boss begs him to join a team trying to find the source of the infection. Infection is the operative word, since the movie focuses on the medical aspects of zombism. Pitt’s character is, of course, hesitant but is forced into going to keep his family safe.
You can see the movie in 3D, which is fine. It doesn’t get in the way, but also, arguably, doesn’t add much to it. The real problem is with the computer graphics. The zombies look entirely too limber, almost cartoonish. That’s a big problem considering how many there are. They’re so supple — and superhumanly strong — you can see them in the trailer climbing on top of each other to create a giant tower of the undead. You’re forced to think, “I guess that could happen.”
When it’s not showing springy zombies jumping around, the movie focuses on their individual mannerisms. That’s another problem because if you look at a zombie long enough, they start to look silly. They twitch, spasm and, in this movie, randomly slam against the wall like a bird trying to fly out a window. You will probably laugh in moments not meant to be funny.
The movie does make you think by focusing on the politics involved in a world health catastrophe and the research that goes into understanding infections that currently afflict humankind. The standard for intelligent zombie films was set with 28 Days Later, which went beyond the gore and explored the darkest parts of sociology. World War Z doesn’t live up to that. And probably to keep its PG-13 rating, it shies away from more graphic depictions of flesh feasting. That leaves the movie somewhere in the middle between thriller and horror. It’s certainly not a bad film, and there is enough action to keep you excited — though the scenery does most of the heavy lifting — but there’s just not enough there to keep you hungry, wanting another bite.