World War Z

I watched World War Z today with my good buddy.

Copyright belongs to the publisher, Crown
or the cover artist.

Starring Brad Pitt, based of a book with the same name, World War Z is an action, horror movie about an apocalyptic outbreak of Zombies (supposedly originating from some form of rabies) and ex-UN top-dog investigator Gerry Lane (Pitt) races to find a cure for the outbreak.

I have not read the book. But from what I heard, (and Wikipedia Yay!) the book explores geo-political issues as well as questioning how effective a modern army will be against a Zombie outbreak.

While critics go about saying the movie diverts itself from the source material. I feel that the movie (surprisingly?) does cover the general idea although a viewer might have easily missed them amongst the tension generated with the horror elements. This is especially so with the zombies’ tendencies to do Dynamic Entry-Style body slams into the scene. Well, I have not read the book so I cannot be sure about the source material.

DYNAMIC ENTRY!

Scenes I find interesting are.

-Spoilers below-

This promotional poster image does not belong to me.
Copyright belongs to PlanB Entertainment and
other relevant parties

In the supermarket, the policeman rushes to grab his share of the supplies instead of investigating a murder(self-defense) or the gunshot. What this can be said to show is the societal breakdown as law enforcement members will be more concerned with surviving then upholding the law, as people’s lives seem to be worth less and less. The pharmacist dude (not sure of that one) was a little odd though, seemed like a cool character but was not explored afterwards.

The US Carrier Group that acts as a safe harbor from the outbreak operates in a really practical manner, to the point of kicking out ALL non-essential persons cold-heartedly. Okay, they are not exactly abandoning them but you were not supposed to know that till the end. For example, they threw Lane’s family into a containment camp (or was it concentration camp), later mentioned as a safe zone, the moment they thought Lane died in the plane crash. This practicality may be necessary but an attitude that is very different from all (excepting dictatorships) government system now.

A consistent image is that of military troops getting overrun by the Zombie horde. While minute outbreaks were taken out or held back by troops, in the Jerusalem and various parts of USA scenes, the sheer mass and numbers of the Zombies totally overwhelmed the military. As my brother puts quite bluntly, it is hard for us to fathom what it will be like fighting such an enemy. Imagine a million enemy combatants. Now if you have a battalion of troops (approx. 600) with each soldier carrying 2 combat loads (1 combat load = approx. 3-4 magazines of 30 rounds each) assuming every shot is a guaranteed kill, which is not the case in the movie, the battalion will only be able to kill (600 x 2(4x30)) 144,000 zombies. You will still be facing 800,000 more zombies and chump change.

Okay, there were some portrayals in the movie that I find particularly irritating. I mean; Lane is presented as some super survivalist where everyone just seemed to be slowing him down. From his daughter screaming for her blanket at a real dangerous moment, to the scientist falling and killing himself with his pistol or the (other) scientist who seems to find something particularly noisy to step on and lure zombies. In the WHO part of the movie where they had to grab the viruses, Lane practically went ahead and did it all by himself while the doctor and the IDF soldier went running back to safety. Yeah, it made for some nice action scenes and they were justifiable but it still irks me as a moviegoer.

All in all, I found the movie interesting (feels like a L4D match) and I loved the ending scenes, especially the sight of Russians roaring their defiance in the Zombies face and wading in with pickaxes, but I do not judge it as worthy of re-watching. A decent 4/5 if you like this kind of semi action semi horror films.

-NURR BRAINSS

ARP