Movie Review : World War Z

Try talking to me about a new zombie movie, and the most restrained reaction on my part will be a loud groan. The least restrained reaction, on the other hand, would give you a somewhat clear idea of the social behaviors of zombies. You cannot really blame me. I have sat through no less than 3 Resident Evil movies.

However, as hundreds of  poets and lunatics have been pointing out since thousands of years, love is the most powerful emotion of all; certainly more powerful than any zombie-aversion. And so, yesterday morning found me standing patiently in the queue for “World War Z“, tub of popcorn in one hand, 3D glasses in the other. What has that got to do with love? Well, I have a girlfriend, and the movie stars Brad Pitt. Get the picture?

Anyways, the first thing you’d notice about the movie is that there was absolutely no need to make it in 3D. There’s not a single scene that give’s you the 3D Wow factor. That apart, the movie doesn’t disappoint. Well, not entirely.

It starts off in the middle of Philadelphia with the mandatory outbreak scene. And the ensuing crowd sequence is one of the few that stand out from the movie. The zombies, refreshingly, do not look humans who have sat through three Oprah Winfrey shows back-to-back. They are fast, agile and aggressive. Brad Pitt aka Gerry is a retired UN “investigator”. Although what he investigates and because of what qualifications remains a mystery. And that, is one of the weaknesses of the movie. You’d keep wondering why exactly it was he who was sent on a wild-goose chase across the globe “accompanying” a doctor, when he was neither a scientist, nor a shooter.

Without giving away spoilers, in the middle of a world-wide outbreak, Brad Pitt initially saves his family and ensures their safe evacuation, and then is forced to go all around the word in a desperate search for some answers. The journey takes him to South Korea, Israel, England and finally back to the U.S. Director Mark Foster has done some pretty decent movies in the past : Machine Gun Preacher, The Kite Runner and my personal favorite – Stranger Than Fiction. He delivers a decent product that tries to be different, and stumbles a few times on the way. There are a few moments of the movie that will stay with you, like when Gerry is ready to jump off a building fearing he is infected, the Philadelphia breakout scene, the wall around Israel, the airplane scene etc.

However, although the producers have spared no expense making the special effects and scenes as grand as they could, you are still left with a sense of..let’s say..lacking. Throughout the movie, be it explanations for certain actions or characters, visual details, or the unusual ending, you can’t help thinking that you wanted a little more, just a little more. Make no mistake, it’s a good movie (in my opinion at least). A one-time watch it most certainly is. And it does try and mostly pull-off a new take on zombies and end-of-the-world plots. But you really can’t shake of that nagging feeling that the movie is good, really good, and yet, it falls just a little short on all those counts.

“You can’t have everything,” Said my girl with considerable hostility when I voiced that opinion to her, “there’s Brad Pitt.”

Indeed.

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