Movie Review: ‘World War Z’ The Classiest Zombie Flick You’ll See This Summer

By Kyle Osborne

It’s probably the classiest zombie film you’ve ever seen. “World War Z” looks kinda like “Babel,” with Brad Pitt in cargo pants and frequent location changes around the world. Only with zombies.

And these aren’t the kind of zombies who do pop & lock dance moves in the ‘Thriller’ video, nor are they the lumbering doofuses  chanting “Braaaains” in tattered clothing, walking into lamp posts. No, these are fleet-footed carnivores that stop at nothing (well, almost nothing, as it turns out, but that would be a spoiler, if further explained) and they are part of what makes this movie that special brand of thrilling known as “Edge Of Your Seat.”

It starts in Philadelphia, where Pitt, looking like a painting that you’d see on the cover of a cheesy romance novel, is quickly established as a loving Dad who has left behind his past career as a United Nations something or other, in order to become a Mr. Mom who makes breakfast for everyone and does the dishes afterward.

But one of the film’s many strengths is that it doesn’t waste much time on exposition—the better for the audience members to be just as shocked and confused as the characters— just moments later, the Pitt family finds itself in a traffic jam, with people suddenly abandoning their cars and running for their lives. Director Marc Forster is clever to put us right in the middle of the panic without revealing too much, too soon. People are running like hell—but from whom? And to where? Only a few folks, like Pitt, are paying close enough attention to see first-hand what’s going on. Yep, there’s a former human, writhing in a spasmodic dance, barely controlling his limbs before hopping up and chasing after some human tartare.

Did you see the movie ‘Contagion’? This movie has the same template—a ‘virus’ is quickly spreading around the globe, and it’s up to one man, or rather, “One Man” to find the origin and an antidote to keep humanity alive. Only with zombies.

‘World War Z’ sets up a lot of old-fashioned movie conventions (don’t open that door, don’t let the person who got bitten hang out with you, even though they seem fine, etc., etc.) and gleefully celebrates them. In other words, even though the film has a cache of stern looking stock characters and situations, it has a sense of humor. I was sitting with a lot of cool and sophisticated people, and every single one of them jumped like a cat napping next to a firecracker that’s just gone off. What fun!

A quick word to zombie-nerds: zombies are not real. Therefore, they don’t have to adhere to any zombie movie rules.  They have been, and can be, but are not required to act as a shuffling allegory. They can also just be the ‘monster’ of an action film. Not having to police them or their metaphorical place in the narrative was a great relief. It was fun just having the crap scared out of me in short bursts, while also laughing at the intentionally funny bits, like the one zombie who clacks his teeth together—it gets such a good laugh when it first happens that Forster goes back for the same bit (no pun intended) two or three more times—and we giggle every time.

Here’s something significant—the movie is rated PG-13, which means that Forster couldn’t ‘cheat’ on thrills and chills. There are plenty of weapons used, from rifles to handguns to a baseball bat and a crowbar—but no blood spatters or decapitations. Things are more suggested than explicit, but you might not notice the difference.

Scenes like an airplane crash and a city wall around Jerusalem being compromised by a quickly growing dog pile of zombies are absolutely chilling and realistic. This may be summer popcorn fare, but it has been executed with top notch craftsmanship. It slows only a bit near the end, but otherwise travels the world at break-neck speed.

Pitt, it must be said, doesn’t over play his part. He is believable and resists the pitfalls of ‘Action Hero’ status. His pairing with an Israeli soldier, a female soldier played by Daniella Kertesz, was an inspired choice by the book’s author, and it gives Pitt an authentic person with whom he can interact. Kertesz gives a fine performance as his ‘left-hand’ woman. (You’ll see what I mean).

Unlike the dreary and dreadful ‘Man Of Steel,’ this world is full of both fright and fun. It has all the big action set pieces and cool special effects one could hope for in a summer action movie.

Only with zombies.

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