World War Z
Scifi movies create a set of unbelievable circumstances and
draw you into a world where the rules of reality do not apply. Great scifi
movies do this by following their own rules set down in the beginning and keep
you spellbound without violating any of these. The worst walk all over these
rules as if you’re just supposed to accept whatever comes at you as some strange
new (anything goes) world. Somewhere in between is World War Z.
This film is the baby of megastar Brad Pitt. The unrelenting
action and terrifying situations endured by Pitt just to get it finished
and in theaters (and now on DVD) could be a movie all its own. The credits list
numerous writers and the resulting rewrites of previous writers’ works. This is
usually a bad sign. Then the film was tested and taken back to have a different
ending re-shot and spliced onto the film just days before release. Generally
critics await such films with sharpened knives.
Whether it’s the fact that the source material was so good
or Brad Pitt has learned enough from some of the best
directors is hard to tell. Pitt was involved in all aspects of the film up to
and including the final re-shoots I think he taped up the box with the final
print to get it off to the lab for duplication. He had a lot riding on his
success. The overall result is satisfying, but it’s no Bladerunner. For Pitt,
the world continues to say ‘yes’ so we can all rest more easily at night.
World War Z
Based on the novel by Max Brooks, son of Mel, the story
begins quickly with an outbreak of a bad case of zombieitis and proceeds at
breakneck speed with the hero trying to find a cure. I’ll let those people Hitchcock referred
to as The Plausibles to point out the
few flaws in the film’s logic. None is enough to make the whole thing crash
like a zombie-filled jetliner.
I’m not familiar with the source material, so I don’t know
how much of what is right with movie comes from the original author and how
much can be attributed to the good acting and eye-popping CGI scenes. The
special effects are a major part of the film but somehow fail to overshadow the
humans at the center of the story. That’s about the best compliment a special
effects film can get.
Pitt is always great as a hero even with his straggly hair
and mangy beard. He can play a tender father and then effortlessly convert into
a world-saving scientist. Ultimately he’s driven to find the solution more to
save his family and less to save the world, but as long as he’s on the job, we’re
all better off.
I do want to point out the appearance by James Badge Dale
who had a lead role the fine mini-series, The Pacific. In recent years, he has played
a number of obscure-yet-key characters in films like Iron Man 3 and Flight. As
I watched his scenes, I made a mental note that he’s taking on roles that were
once a specialty of David Morse. I’d no more than thought this when the film
introduces a burnt-out, crazed ex-CIA guy, played by David Morse! I guess they’re
following in the footsteps of Strother Martin, Dub Taylor and
Chill Wills. If you don’t know the names, Google them. Chances are you’ll
recognize their faces.
World War Z is the kind of movie you want to see when you
want to be carried away to another reality and forget about yours for a while.
For that, it gets three Wilders out of four.
This Week’s Overlooked Film of Significance: Go to your
library, Amazon or maybe even Netflix and take a look at A Boy and His Dog, my
all-time favorite scifi movie. A horny teenager and his telepathic dog wander
post-apocalyptic Phoenix looking for canned food and good times. The film has
some great things to say about survival and even patriotism and never violates its
essential premise while telling a very compelling story.
