"World War Z" Review

We all know the story of "The Little Engine That Could." A small engine is tasked with bringing a large train to the top of a hill, but no one believes that it has the ability to do it. Despite the overwhelming odds, it manages to succeed.

For 2013, World War Z was Paramount Studio's little engine that could. The film began shooting in 2011, and went over budget rather quickly. The film, despite being based on a best selling novel, didn't have an ending written until shooting was almost over. Even then, the ending was not good enough for executives, so reshoots had to be done, pushing the release of the film even further from its original release date. No one expected this film to succeed, some thought it would fail to even break even. Others thought that the several script rewrites would have a detrimental effect on the film's overall quality. Despite the overwhelming odds given to this engine, it somehow made it to the top of the hill of box office success and quality.

World War Z is the tale of a zombie apocalypse which overtakes the Earth in a very brief period of time. In order to ensure the protection of his family, former United Nations employee Gerry Lane agrees to come out of retirement to attempt to find where the infection originated.

In recent years, there has been a plethora of monster films that try to appeal to mainstream audiences by making the creatures within seem relatable, conflicted, or "sexy." Sometimes, it works rather well and produces excellent cinema (Warm Bodies). Sometimes, it just hurts your head and has horrible acting (Twilight). In this romanticized age of creature features, it was refreshing to see a modern movie that not only treats the monsters with classic cinema xenophobia, but also incorporate more advanced, modern day touches. The story has the classic zombie tropes such as the fear of being bitten, but also has some more dramatic intuition when it tries to solve the epidemic. It is an excellent mashing of action, horror, and drama, that works.

Brad Pitt is indeed Andrew's Standout for this movie. Rather than playing the willing soldier, he plays his character with an almost John McClane personality. He doesn't want to do what is asked of him, but begrudgingly does so to protect the ones he loves. He is calm, collective, and knows how to handle himself in a situation.

Mainstream audiences may not be too familiar with the rest of the cast, but it also includes excellent supporting performances by Matthew Fox, James Badge Dale, and the new "Doctor" in Doctor Who lore, Peter Capaldi, (Ironically working as a doctor in the W.H.O. facility).

I went into this movie with low expectations, but I came out pleasantly surprised. I say go for it. You may be surprised too.

B+