.....and I'll give it an "A" as a sci fi thriller/blockbuster, but just a "C+" or maybe a "B-," when considered simply as a zombie movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/
Spoilers ahead!!!!!
I enjoyed it, I was well-entertained and Brad Pitt was very good; however, this big budget (200 million?) flick is much more like Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise's decent remake of "War of the Worlds" than George A. Romero's seminal "The Night of the Living Dead" or his "Dawn of the Dead" or "Shaun of the Dead" or "Zombieland" or AMC's "The Walking Dead" on TV.
Those undead examples are gory, cannibalistic, horror fests.
They're very bloody, but leavened with tragic and sometimes just outrightly funny humor which often satirizes the situation and tries to balance the almost hopeless plight of the humans left to face the undead.
There's no dark comedy in "WWZ" and very, very, very little blood or gore is shown on screen.
No sex either.
The movie, however, is a thinking person's overview of zombie infection, much like Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig's "The Invasion" was about about body snatchers or "District 9" was concerning aliens or Michael Crichton's "The Andromeda Strain" was to contamination from outer space.
These movies encouraged you to think, rather than just be horrified or simply scare-satisfied.
Different strokes.
Heck, as a fully blown zombie fan, you could take your thus far uninfected date or send fairly innocent teenagers to this one (or take your mom and dad or even your grandparents to it) without too much reservation, if they are willing or want to see a very scary, but not very bloody, zombie movie.
"Saving Private Ryan" was a whole lot more sanguine.
"WWZ" is much more, IMO, like a good action film adapted from a best-selling Tom Clancy book, if he ever wrote about zombies.
There's certainly copious amounts of frantic gunfire from ballistic weapons of all calibers, but a long-handled axe that Brad Pitt at one point chooses to carry (and Abe Lincoln recently wielded so well, splitting and beheading vampires) here finds its best use as a door stop in Wales.
It's a PG-13 rated film offering concerning the undead that, of course, contains plenty of scary stuff and its fair share of zombie mob scene violence, responded to with lots of human fear, desperation, bravery, our ability to observe, to think and to use our ingenuity; but actually there's really only about as much visible visceral sanguinuity and gross, bony or pulpy horror as found in 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."
That last ape sequel was a worthwhile addition to our film library, but it displayed more monkey business and more failed humanity than on screen blood and guts.
Just as in all the "Planet of the Apes" movies.
They made you think and are sci fi, not horror films.
Almost the entire shock and awe value of "World War Z" has already been revealed for free in the previews and there's not much more spectacle than that to be had seeing the whole thing.
The global scope (Philadelphia, PA to Camp Humphreys, South Korea and, lucky me, I've been to both places) of the zombie threat is what's new and emphasized in this screenplay and that part is interesting enough, however (other than the CGI shots of mindless masses of fast moving zombies attacking on the run and/or climbing over each other like so many army ants, thus scaling protective walls in Jerusalem and tall buildings whenever and wherever they're sufficiently riled up) all of the most exciting and the scariest encounters still come in places no bigger than dwellings, laboratory buildings or shopping malls.
Just like in more traditional zombie stories.
So, it's a good summer movie with entertaining, scary action and world-wide locations; often utilizing shaky, held held cameras; very, very, very little blood and gore; not much info about how this all started; a really lucky (and nicely dramatic) "camouflage" cure discovery and confirmation; leading quickly to a very sudden wrap up for this movie; as Brad Pitt's character, still embattled, but now reunited in Nova Scotia with his family, solemnly intones: "It's not the end....."
So probably there'll be a sequel.
Maybe even a trilogy.
Isn't there always, if there's movie money to be made?
"WWZ" is pretty darned good, IMHO, and is recommended for those who need and want to see it, as did I.
My wife liked it too.
And I've just started reading the book.
Your thoughts?
BTW, saw a preview of "The Wolf of Wall Street," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese.
Coming soon.
My impression from what I saw was that it maybe could be subtitled: "A Greater Gatsby."
Gig 'em, FAST FRED '65.
Before the world wide web, village idiots usually stayed in their own village.
[This message has been edited by FAST FRED (edited 6/29/2013 2:28p).]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/
Spoilers ahead!!!!!
I enjoyed it, I was well-entertained and Brad Pitt was very good; however, this big budget (200 million?) flick is much more like Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise's decent remake of "War of the Worlds" than George A. Romero's seminal "The Night of the Living Dead" or his "Dawn of the Dead" or "Shaun of the Dead" or "Zombieland" or AMC's "The Walking Dead" on TV.
Those undead examples are gory, cannibalistic, horror fests.
They're very bloody, but leavened with tragic and sometimes just outrightly funny humor which often satirizes the situation and tries to balance the almost hopeless plight of the humans left to face the undead.
There's no dark comedy in "WWZ" and very, very, very little blood or gore is shown on screen.
No sex either.
The movie, however, is a thinking person's overview of zombie infection, much like Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig's "The Invasion" was about about body snatchers or "District 9" was concerning aliens or Michael Crichton's "The Andromeda Strain" was to contamination from outer space.
These movies encouraged you to think, rather than just be horrified or simply scare-satisfied.
Different strokes.
Heck, as a fully blown zombie fan, you could take your thus far uninfected date or send fairly innocent teenagers to this one (or take your mom and dad or even your grandparents to it) without too much reservation, if they are willing or want to see a very scary, but not very bloody, zombie movie.
"Saving Private Ryan" was a whole lot more sanguine.
"WWZ" is much more, IMO, like a good action film adapted from a best-selling Tom Clancy book, if he ever wrote about zombies.
There's certainly copious amounts of frantic gunfire from ballistic weapons of all calibers, but a long-handled axe that Brad Pitt at one point chooses to carry (and Abe Lincoln recently wielded so well, splitting and beheading vampires) here finds its best use as a door stop in Wales.
It's a PG-13 rated film offering concerning the undead that, of course, contains plenty of scary stuff and its fair share of zombie mob scene violence, responded to with lots of human fear, desperation, bravery, our ability to observe, to think and to use our ingenuity; but actually there's really only about as much visible visceral sanguinuity and gross, bony or pulpy horror as found in 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."
That last ape sequel was a worthwhile addition to our film library, but it displayed more monkey business and more failed humanity than on screen blood and guts.
Just as in all the "Planet of the Apes" movies.
They made you think and are sci fi, not horror films.
Almost the entire shock and awe value of "World War Z" has already been revealed for free in the previews and there's not much more spectacle than that to be had seeing the whole thing.
The global scope (Philadelphia, PA to Camp Humphreys, South Korea and, lucky me, I've been to both places) of the zombie threat is what's new and emphasized in this screenplay and that part is interesting enough, however (other than the CGI shots of mindless masses of fast moving zombies attacking on the run and/or climbing over each other like so many army ants, thus scaling protective walls in Jerusalem and tall buildings whenever and wherever they're sufficiently riled up) all of the most exciting and the scariest encounters still come in places no bigger than dwellings, laboratory buildings or shopping malls.
Just like in more traditional zombie stories.
So, it's a good summer movie with entertaining, scary action and world-wide locations; often utilizing shaky, held held cameras; very, very, very little blood and gore; not much info about how this all started; a really lucky (and nicely dramatic) "camouflage" cure discovery and confirmation; leading quickly to a very sudden wrap up for this movie; as Brad Pitt's character, still embattled, but now reunited in Nova Scotia with his family, solemnly intones: "It's not the end....."
So probably there'll be a sequel.
Maybe even a trilogy.
Isn't there always, if there's movie money to be made?
"WWZ" is pretty darned good, IMHO, and is recommended for those who need and want to see it, as did I.
My wife liked it too.
And I've just started reading the book.
Your thoughts?
BTW, saw a preview of "The Wolf of Wall Street," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese.
Coming soon.
My impression from what I saw was that it maybe could be subtitled: "A Greater Gatsby."
Gig 'em, FAST FRED '65.
Before the world wide web, village idiots usually stayed in their own village.
[This message has been edited by FAST FRED (edited 6/29/2013 2:28p).]
