You guys might have noticed that I missed a few days last week. That's because I still feel like crap and am exhausted from working too damn much. The doctor just called in a second prescription for this thing that I suspect is actually killing me and I took yesterday off of work. I don't feel like doing anything.
Luckily for me, Beth is back with her review of the controversial movie World War Z. Controversial because it has absolutely nothing to do with the book it is "based on".
Granted
it's been several years since I read the book, but I'm not sure I saw
the right movie. There is no reporter crossing the globe to collect
stories of horror and/or human triumph over the greatest adversity
mankind has ever faced. In the book the zombie war is over, and since
we almost lost someone goes out to get the story from those who
survived. It wasn't really about the zombies, it was about the
people. What makes The Walking Dead (both as a comic and a show) so
engaging is it's that it's the story of what people do when the world
falls apart. The zombies are secondary. That could have worked for
World War Z as a movie. Instead we get 2 hours of Brad Pitt saves the
world.
He
plays some sort of former U.N. employee (I don't know if they ever
said exactly what he did there) who retires to spend time with his
family. When the zombie shit hits the fan his old pal gets his family
out of dodge in exchange for helping to find the cause or cure or
something. He's not a soldier, but he's a crack shot and tougher than
all of the real soldiers he meets. He's not a doctor, but he can
cauterize a wound and figure things out faster than the top W.H.O.
scientists. We hardly see his family after the first third of the
movie, but he puts himself and a lot of other people at risk in order
to keep them safe. It's a movie filled with strange paradoxes. Like
why put Matthew Fox in there just long enough for us to say “hey,
isn't that Matthew Fox?” and then never we see him again? Most of
the characters pop in and out so quickly that you don't really miss
them when they're gone. Halfway through Brad Pitt gets a female
soldier sidekick, but all we know about her is that she's pretty
bad-ass. You never get to know any of the ancillary character's
stories so there's no point in their death other than to increase the
body count.
Speaking
of body count, I have to say that this is the largest scale zombie
apocalypse that I have ever seen on film. Because we're following
Brad Pitt across the globe we get to see much of it overrun by the
zombie plague. City after city goes down under giant waves of the
undead. As much as I don't like fast zombies the way they are used in
this movie was just great. I have never seen zombie hordes used like
this before, and it really gives the movie some of it's best moments.
Instead of the usual generic mobs here the legions of the dead flow
like water across traffic congested streets, pour over giant walls,
and even ride the crest of their wave to bring down a helicopter.
It's
all done extremely well, and you can tell that a lot of time and
thought went into making this look unique. My one complaint about the
zombies is that we don't get to spend much up close and personal time
with them. I know I said it was the story of the people that makes it
engaging, but I also want a little blood and guts in my zombie movie.
They are flesh eating monsters after all. It doesn't have to depend
upon that solely, but everything takes place on such a massive scale
that sometimes you forget that the waves are made of dead people. The
first and last half hour are the only times we get to see anyone
fighting zombies on a small scale. And it's easy to tell that these
parts weren't invested in nearly as much as the large scale stuff.
The one on one zombies are fine really, but nothing that we haven't
seen before.
Then
comes the ending. I'm so curious to see what the original ending was
like because the one they went with felt so tacked on. Again, it
wasn't awful, but after so much build up it was just a bit of a
letdown. Which kind of sums up how I felt about the movie overall.
Not bad, but I waited a long time to see it. I was so excited when I
first heard that they were going to be making this into a movie. I
was concerned that Brad Pitt's involvement (and insistence on being
the leading man) would change the story, but I was hopeful that it
would all turn out okay. I assumed that they would be sticking closer
to the book than they did, but that's what I get for assuming things.
Of course, that hype all started in the days before The Walking Dead
came to television. If the people involved in making this movie had
gotten their shit together a few years earlier it might have had a
completely different impact on me than it did. Instead they took so
long, and changed their minds so much that the genre had already
passed them by before it was finally released. If you live in a world
of fast zombies you better be prepared to move faster than they do.
All
in all it's not a bad movie. If it had been called something else and
Max Brooks’ name (anyone else notice how quiet he's been about this
movie?) had been taken off I might have liked it a lot more. As I
said when it was over: “hey I read this great book called World War
Z that would make a really good movie”. I have certainly read
enough books that became movies to know that there will be changes.
If they were identical all movies would be between 4 and 6 hours
long, and no one would ever be surprised in a theater again. I just
didn't expect what I got. I don't know if it's $12 of movie, but
certainly worth the price of a matinee. Save your full price movie
night for This is the End. That way you're laughs will be
intentional, and you'll care when people die. You'll laugh
hysterically, but you'll care.
-Beth
Awesome movie !!! It was to the point and don't have unnecessary scenes. The director had mixed all masala quiet well , it show all the factors in excellent manner like action , horror, affection with family,etc In short superb movie. Go, go , its paisa -vasool !!! u will not be disappointed .
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