World War Z (not recommended - spoilers)

[hermes]

Has anyone else seen it? I was kind of hoping MovieBob to review it to have a place to talk about it, but...

Its not very good. Never mind the fact its similar to the book in the name only, since it changes a lot (and I mean A LOT) of things, characters, locations, events, rules, etc. but the script also have a lot of more problems. I guess it is not a surprise given its story...

- Its PG13. Let that thought sink in for a moment. How does Hollywood makes a PG 13 zombie movie? By removing everything that is characteristic of zombies.

There is no blood, no gore and no violence. Not that I am obsessed with those things, but the lack of them is really noticeable at times: the zombies are not decomposed and bloody in almost any way, in fact, they look more like the creatures of I am Legend than traditional zombies. The closest thing we get to signal how long someone has been zombified is by the dirt and damage in their clothes. That can be justified because the zombies never EAT people... they just bite them and go on their way.

There is some mutilation, but it is never shown and people never bleed out of them. One of the most weird examples is a woman whose arm gets chopped of, but even then, she doesn't bleed at all, doesn't go into shock or gets infected. At one point, Brad Pitt smashed the skull of a zombie with a crowbar (of camera, of course), but he or his clothes don't get dirtier for it. At another point, he is stabbed through the stomach with a piece of debris, yet he manages to walk several miles and the blood splatter on his shirt is barely visible.

- It all revolves around Brad Pitt. I guess that was obvious considering he is the only recognizable actor in the entire movie, but its just weird that all leads to him. He is there during the initial outbreak, he finds the patient zero, he is the only survivor of a zombie attack on a military base and a plane crash, he is the first to notice the thread of a zombie attack on the human stronghold and one of the few survivors, he "lands" close to the research facility that can cure the zombie plague, he is the one that figures out the antidote and he test it on himself.

Every other character in the movie is there for support and is unceremoniously disposed of soon after. Even the expert virologist in charge of finding the cure gets killed long before he is useful, so Mr. Pitt has to do it himself. Even when its never clearly established what he does for a living he is a personal friend of the secretary of defense, can flight a plane, outfights the soldiers, outsmart the scientists and outlive every survivor that comes near him.

- It has some problems with consistent rules. Early on, it establishes that a person bitten in the hand gets painful spasms for 12 seconds before turning (it even has a counter included to drive the point home). Later on, they forget about the spasms and finally people are established to have survived for several minutes before they turn. I don't expect such a movie to be free of plot holes, but they shouldn't focus on some points so much if they are going to change it soon after.

In general, it feels like a mediocre (and too safe) action movie, but unrecognizable as a zombie movie.

So, has anyone else seen it? I am interested in other people sharing your experience with it.

 

[Comocat]

I paid for the early bird showing, so I felt like the movie was worth $6. It was okay, but for the most part wasn't very well done in a lot of places. I think it's probably worthy of a $1 redbox rental, but I'd be kind of pissed if I paid typical theatre prices.

My big problems with it are very similar to yours, but I think the problems of movie boil down to the fact there wasn't any tension. At no point is there anything truly awful where you think, "hmm I wonder if we are going to survive?" If this movie was a video game, Brad Pitt was playing on care-bear casual. For example, there are rumors that in the cut version, Pitt's wife is exiled to a camp where she essentially trades her body for protection. That's pretty dark, probably too dark for a summer action flick, but that is an example of how this movie is sanitized at every possible angle leaving it sterile and boring.

PS: The video ad the escapist is featuring right now "The Sub" is really starting piss me off.

 

[hermes]

I paid for the early bird showing, so I felt like the movie was worth $6. It was okay, but for the most part wasn't very well done in a lot of places. I think it's probably worthy of a $1 redbox rental, but I'd be kind of pissed if I paid typical theatre prices.

I paid $12 because all the screening here are on 3D... so, yeah... I am kind of pissed.

My big problems with it are very similar to yours, but I think the problems of movie boil down to the fact there wasn't any tension. At no point is there anything truly awful where you think, "hmm I wonder if we are going to survive?" If this movie was a video game, Brad Pitt was playing on care-bear casual. For example, there are rumors that in the cut version, Pitt's wife is exiled to a camp where she essentially trades her body for protection. That's pretty dark, probably too dark for a summer action flick, but that is an example of how this movie is sanitized at every possible angle leaving it sterile and boring.

Sterile is a good word to describe it.

 

[Suave Charlie]

I'd say it's a perfect film for orange wednesdays. I paid £3.50 to see it, I easily got £3.50 worth of entertainment.

 

[OneOfTheMichael's]

I thought it was okay. May not have gone the traditional zombie aspect, but do something that would represent the book in a compressed 2 hour screening. I was kinda disappointed it had brad pitt center of attention every 3 seconds but I'm also a fan of Muse who had a few songs played in the movie, so my opinions are biased.