Stray Review; World War Z (Out Now)

World War Z (Out Now!)

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos.
Rating/Volume: 7.4 (34,000)
My Rating: WATCH (IN 3D)
Source: Cineworld Cinemas (in 3D)

This is the first review I've done all week, despite the promise that I'm going to do them every weekday. Many apologies! I'm not going to go into it now, however, I will be doing a second 'Newsflash' post; so do go and take a look. I thought this film would be a nice way to get me back into the swing of things while I start to get the first video on my Youtube channel up this week.

A quick intro to the film for those of you unlucky people who haven't had the pleasure, World War Z is an apocalyptic zombie film that follows UN employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) as he travels (what's left of) the globe to find a cure for the deadly virus that's turning the entire human race into running zombies; the worst kind of zombies! 

You may be thinking "HOLD UP, Will, why should I go and see another film about one man's quest to survive/find the cure for a population killing disease that turns people into zombies/dead people?". Can I be honest? I was shouting exactly that at the trailer a few weeks ago. I was really starting to get sick of that genre to death. Let's face it, it's no longer an original concept. It's a premise that too many films to even mention have used in the last five years. Don't get me wrong, that genre has produced some awesome films; I Am Legend and the Resident Evil franchise (just to name a couple) are some of my favourite films of all time. That being said though there seemed nothing original about this film, at least from the trailer. Calm, frightening, running, collapsing, military, running, action, man running from zombie; y'know, same old. Even the title, I felt, was a bit cliched. The only hook for me, was not Brad Pitt, it was the immense scene of a sea of zombies running over each other like a nest of ants to get over this huge wall. It looked insane; I'm sure all of you who saw the trailer will agree! I'm going to hold my hands up and say that if it wasn't for said scene I would probably have swerved this film altogether. I'm glad I didn't!

The first thing about this film that I liked was the zombies themselves. This is rather unlike me as I am usually first to harp on about how much I hate films featuring running zombies as I find that it gives normal people like you and I almost no real chance of survival. This is as opposed to zombies like Shaun of the Dead where I should imagine you could actually have a fighting chance. But in this film I think they did it about right. Partly because of that scene I was so impressed with. I literally cannot fully describe the amount of goosebumps that scene gave me. It is really great to watch, plus it really gives you an impression of how screwed the remaining humans are if they can't even be kept out by a big ass wall! In terms of the acting, even though Brad Pitt was good in his role, I would have probably appreciated the film just as much as if the part had of been played by a complete unknown. granted it may not have achieved such a big box office gross, but I think that's the beauty of zombie/action films. The acting, in my opinion is not the most important thing with this genre. At least that's what I think. He still did well regardless. Again, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put Pitt down. It's just sometimes I fear that studios put a big star into a film just to make it a success. I'd like to think that a great film would be successful even if my Nan was the lead role! I'd hate to think that a studio achieved a great film just by waving their cheque books around. I hate that. But this doesn't seem the case with World War Z. So, all is good! Another comment on this film is that aside from a few location scenes, it was set mainly in the UK. Hooray for Britain! The scenes of Philadelphia were in Glasgow, the ocean was off the coast of Cornwall and the whole ending was set in a WHO research centre in some dark and scruffy area of Cardiff. Of all places! I only saw it on Wednesday with my girlfriend. I remember a scene with Gerry (Pitt) waking up in the facility. He slowly opens his eyes and sees a silhouette on a nearby wall of a lab scientist. The first thing I thought to myself was "good god, that shadow looks just like a bust of Peter Capaldi (see link below)!". In those few split seconds I recall musing to myself about how odd it was that thanks to Torchwood and various other British shows I've come to associate him with any projects that involve Cardiff, apocalypses and research science. The camera pans over. It's Peter Capaldi! Honest, I didn't even know he was in the film. As if the film couldn't get anymore British! The end scene I am referring to I found one of the most compelling scenes in the film, despite the scene itself being no more sophisticated that the type of BBC drama that Capaldi would himself star in. It had my on the edge of my seat. I'm not going to give too much away, but I thought it was a good ending.

That's all there really is to say about this film. There are been announcements of a screenplay for a sequel being drafted due to the big commercial success of the film. Now, I hear that the story from the book (even though I have not read it) is a far far cry from the film and doesn't even touch the level of depth that the book does. However, even though I am confident that there is enough material to make a script for a sequel and still have room  for a franchise, I don't think I would really be interested in it. I don't want to send out a bleak message for the film. I like this film, I honestly do, but (and you'll understand when you watch it) I don't see how they can continue the films without it being a carbon copy of franchises like Resident Evil. And guess what, they already exist! I could be wrong, there could be a great untapped wealth of material lying within the pages of Max Brooks' masterpiece that would make an excellent and successful series of films, but I just don't see it. It's a great stand alone film that I would recommend you go and see in the cinema tomorrow (Orange Wednesdays, people!), but a series? There is going to have to be one kick ass trailer for me to go and see a WWZ 2!

Overall, a great film! With enough action to keep you on the edge of your seats, enough jumpy bits to keep it firmly grounded in the horror genre and some epic scenes that make viewing in 3D a must!

Now, I'm going to ask you to go and watch it yourself. You can see it at all cinemas worldwide in both 2D and 3D. Feel free to send me a message at reviewthe250@gmail.com with any comments and your own views and opinions.

Be sure to hit the Share button down below! Follow me on Twitter @reviewthe250 !

Thanks for reading!

William

Next: Ratatouille (#226), the first of many Disney films!

Peter Capaldi IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0134922/?ref_=sr_2