World War Z (2013)
Last Watch Date - November 12, 2022
Total Times Watched - Twice
Comments
This movie is not that similar to the novel. I understand this and do not particularly care. I've never read the novel. I've heard it's good. Maybe one day I will read it. But as of watching this, I have not seen it.
With THAT out of the way, let's get on to this. The plot is not unique or particularly interesting. The world is plunged into chaos! Zombies! Infected people! Whatever they are, they're running the cities now and they don't even really know it. Somehow this mystery man who is a former UN.. something-or-other.. has the ability to live through everything and be the savior of humanity. You're shocked, right? I know. Super cool plot.
But is it scripted and acted well? Eh, not particularly. This is an action-horror movie, heavy on the action. You don't really expect nor need it to be good in terms of plot, script, and acting. Brad Pitt is fine as the hero. His wife and kids are serviceable as the .. plot device to make things feel heavy? The military guys are pretty typical of this type of movie. OOORAH!
Ok, so none of that is great, but the pacing -- how is the pacing? You may be surprised to hear me say yes, it is generally well-paced! The action begins very quickly and gives you a bit of downtime between each major sequence. There is a lot of action in it, despite it being around two hours for the extended version. I saw both the extended and non-extended at different times. I don't really remember much of a difference between them. I'm sure there's something super cool though.
How does it stand up to other zombie movies you ask? What a good question. If you compare this to something like 28 Days Later, it feels kind of similar in overall plot, though the execution is vastly different. I think 28 Days Later is better and actually gives you a connection to the characters. This movie is far more action-oriented. It almost fits more with Zombieland in certain ways. While Zombieland is silly, they both have a good amount of action and you're not going to care all that much about the individual characters. There are so many other great zombie movies that this is not really going to hit that spot.
Recommended?
Maybe if you have a thing for Brad Pitt. It's not a bad movie, but it's not good either. We're on a run of mediocrity here lately.
