SALON

Wednesday, Jun 19, 2013 6:45 PM UTC

“World War Z”: The zombie apocalypse gets super-sized

Brad Pitt's $200 million zombie epic is exciting cinema, but its sloppy, lazy script rips off many better films

By

Topics: Movies, Action movies, Summer movies, Horror, zombie apocalypse, zombies, World War Z, brad pitt, Science Fiction and Fantasy,

(Credit: Paramount Pictures/Jaap Buitendijk)

You’re a lot better off if you see “World War Z” while putting all the Hollywood news and gossip surrounding the film out of your mind. If you don’t think about its tormented production history, its multiple rewrites and reshoots, or a budget that purportedly reached close to $200 million, what you get from Marc Forster’s movie is an expertly paced action thriller in a familiar apocalyptic vein, on a near-epic global scale and featuring some truly breathtaking set pieces. Yes, it seems severely underexplained and oddly curtailed; indeed, after two hours it pretty much just stops, rather than reaching any satisfying denouement. But “World War Z” is a genuinely exciting thrill ride that only occasionally feels bloated or painfully dumb; and overall it’s a good enough summer popcorn flick that Paramount Pictures execs can go to sleep tonight without an entire bottle of Ambien.

Now as to the supposed bigger questions, such as whether this movie has any reason for existing in the first place, whether it has anything to say and whether it adds anything remotely new to the swollen carcass of zombie cinema – I can’t help you there. No, wait, let’s back up: Actually, the first part of that is easy. One of the problems “World War Z” has faced all along is that it looks like a high-concept zombie-apocalypse movie (adapted from Max Brooks’ novel, told as a series of first-person accounts) but it’s really something we don’t see that often these days, an old-fashioned Hollywood star picture. Brad Pitt helped produce the movie, and considering its immense scale and enormous population (both live and undead), he appears on-screen a remarkable percentage of the time, playing one of those indestructible super-secret-agent guys customarily portrayed by Tom Cruise.

It’s not such a great fit. I’m not a Pitt hater by any means, but he lacks the loony edge and native intensity that makes Cruise so perfect for control-freak, OCD-type spook characters. Pitt always looks as if he’s preoccupied by something or drifting off into his private happy place, a quality that was used beautifully by Terrence Malick in “The Tree of Life” and Bennett Miller in “Moneyball,” but is somewhat less desirable when you’re trying to stop the human race from being devoured by zombies. It may also be that United Nations superspy Gerry Lane, Pitt’s character here, has had every possible smidgen of personality sanded away by the five credited screenwriters of “World War Z” (and God knows how many others behind the scenes) in the interests of “protecting the star,” as they say in the trade. So Pitt spends a lot of the movie seeming bored and irritated that zombies have interrupted his Sunday with the family.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed seeing the odd, feral-looking beauty Mireille Enos (of TV’s “The Killing”) as Pitt’s on-screen wife; I wish she had more to do in the film than hunker onboard an aircraft carrier with their kids, hoping the zombies won’t learn how to swim. Here’s what happens in the movie: Zombies attack, human civilization collapses, and Brad Pitt has to figure out what to do about it, pretty much single-handed. No, really, that’s it! The writing team, which includes the “Lost” duo of Drew Goddard and Damon Lindelof, along with Matthew Michael Carnahan (“State of Play”) and TV veteran J. Michael Straczynski, has essentially aggregated bits and pieces of almost every zombie movie and epidemic thriller of recent decades. At different points in the story, “World War Z” strongly resembles Zack Snyder’s “Dawn of the Dead” remake and Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion,” and I suppose Danny Boyle and Alex Garland should be flattered by the Vulcan mind-meld level of rip-off perpetrated upon their 2002 near-masterwork “28 Days Later.”

All those movies I just mentioned are quite likely at least a little bit better than this one, but “World War Z” is without question the biggest thing ever done in this genre. I have gravely mixed feelings about every movie on Marc Forster’s résumé, from “Monster’s Ball” to “Stranger Than Fiction” to “The Kite Runner” to the 2008 Bond film “Quantum of Solace,” but the guy is undeniably a stylistic virtuoso with a Michael Winterbottom-like ability to jump around from one genre to another. Whatever caused all the production angst on this film I don’t know, but you never get the feeling that Forster loses control of the images, and “World War Z” contains several of the most effective big-canvas action sequences in recent history.

After an ordinary Philadelphia traffic jam turns into a zombified nightmare – like Zack Snyder’s zombies, these are ultra-fast when hungry or motivated, and like Boyle’s infected people, those bitten convert almost immediately – Gerry and his wife and daughter fight their way to a rooftop in Newark, N.J., where a U.N. black helicopter comes to extricate them. (Do Forster and the writers know they’re channeling right-wing paranoia here?) There’s a bit of clumsily handled blah-blah-blah exposition about how the president’s dead, Washington is overrun and most of the world’s big cities have “gone dark.” But who cares about that? Zombies! Maybe the North Koreans have survived by pulling the teeth of everyone in the country. (This bizarre theory supplied by David Morse, as a renegade CIA agent who apparently snuck in from some weirder and more interesting film.) Maybe the Israelis have survived by building a wall. Ha!

The Newark apartment-building siege is terrific and so is the claustrophobic shaggy-dog episode in Korea, where Gerry and a young virologist visit an embattled group of U.S. Army soldiers at one possible ground zero, where it’s apparently always night and always raining. This movie’s script is so disorganized that clues are scattered throughout that never amount to anything: People bitten by zombies convert to zombies within 12 to 15 seconds, except that the soldiers in Korea report it takes much longer, up to 10 minutes or so. This discrepancy means – nothing, apparently.

Anyway Gerry’s soon off to Israel for a visit that neatly combines 9/11 anti-Semitic paranoia (the Jews knew what was coming and were ready) with Chosen People mythology, in which Israel has uniquely resisted the apocalyptic plague and now stands as a Light Unto the Nations. It’s extremely strange, but like the entire movie feels too haphazard to deliver any coherent political meaning. But, yes, the Israeli security barrier meant to keep Palestinians out also works on zombies, at least until Gerry gets there and the zombies, behaving increasingly like humanoid ants or termites, form a sort of boiling mass and come teeming over the wall. It’s a show-stopper, and amid the chaos Gerry does notice something that proves key to a possible “scientific breakthrough,” something so glaringly obvious that it took a Brad Pitt character with no medical or epidemiological training to think of it, I guess.

We also get a zombies-on-a-plane episode and a tense foray into the terrain of “The Stand” or “The Andromeda Strain” in a zombie-infested medical laboratory where Gerry and a buzz-cut, one-handed female Israeli soldier (the terrific Daniella Kertesz) must search for the highly implausible secret MacGuffin that will fix everything. Except only kind of and not really. It’s all extremely well done, in the technical sense, but the dramatic and moral laziness of “World War Z” is immense, in rather the same fashion as Steven Spielberg’s 2005 “War of the Worlds” remake. All of our worst fears have come true and the world has undergone unspeakable devastation and large-scale extermination. Civilization must be reconstructed atop the smoldering corpses of 90 percent of our neighbors. But it’s OK! Because Brad Pitt’s cute daughters survived, and because the ride was kind of fun.

Andrew O

More Andrew O'Hehir.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

 23 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
3280 points3281 points | 4075 comments
vote
Before Edward Snowden: “Sexual deviates” and the NSA - When the last major defection hit the NSA, the government smeared the leakers as gay. New documents show they lied
2678 points2679 points | 187 comments
vote
This man is still lying to America: A smoking gun shows Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is not coming clean to us -- again
769 points770 points | 43 comments
vote
We must hate our children. We crush them with debt to go to college -- and today, rates are actually set to double. Are we out of our minds?
113 points114 points | 17 comments
vote
James Clapper is still lying to America
82 points83 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows