Movie Review: World War Z

  Hello all – and welcome to my review of World War Z! 😀

  Starring: Brad Pitt (Gerry Lane), Mireille Enos (Karen Lane), Abigail Hargrove (Rachel Lane), Sterling Jerins (Constance Lane), Daniella Kertezs (Segen), Fana Mokoena (Thierry)

Plot (taken from Yahoo):

“On an ordinary day, Gerry Lane and his family find their quiet drive interrupted by urban gridlock. An ex-United Nations investigator, Lane senses that this is no ordinary traffic jam. As police helicopters buzz the sky and motorcycle cops careen wildly below, the city erupts into chaos. Something is causing hordes of people to viciously attack each other – a lethal virus that is spread through a single bite, turning healthy humans into something unrecognizable, unthinking and feral. Neighbor turns on neighbor; a helpful stranger suddenly becomes a dangerous enemy. The origins of the virus are unknown, and the number of infected grows exponentially larger each day, quickly becoming a global pandemic. As the infected overwhelm the world’s armies and rapidly topple its governments, Lane is forced to return to his dangerous former life to insure the safety of his family, leading a desperate worldwide search for the source of the epidemic and a means to stop its relentless spread.”

Trailer:

Characters:

Brad Pitt (Gerry Lane) plays a great lead character. He’s strong and determined, and he never gives up. He keeps trying to find that light at the end of the tunnel.

Mireille Enos (Karen Lane) plays a strong female lead. She is awesome. No matter how awful things get, she keeps it together for her family.

Abigail Hargrove (Rachel Lane) plays one of Gerry and Karen’s daughters.

Sterling Jerins (Constance Lane) plays the other daughter.

Daniella Kertezs (Segen) plays a badass female character. Even after being injured (I don’t want to give anything away), she’s still fighting. She doesn’t give up, no matter how ugly things get. I love this character, even though she’s only a secondary character.

Fana Mokoena (Thierry) played a character that had his back against the wall the whole movie. He did his best to protect Gerry and his family.

Review:

Honestly, I did not expect to like this one very much. I’m not usually a fan of zombie movies. They’re hit or miss with me – 90% miss.

I think that’s mainly because I get enough of hopelessness from reality, and would rather not get all the way to the end of a movie to see that, predictably, everybody dies. Everybody. The family. The neighbors. The friends. The significant others. The family dog. The family goldfish. Everybody.

Logically, I understand why in zombie movies happy endings (or even ok endings with some sort of light at the end of the tunnel) are so hard to find. Zombie movies are apocalypse movies.

Lol, I suppose the apocalypse is not supposed to be happy fun times, and I am looking in the wrong place for sunshine and picnics. Which is why I don’t watch too many zombie movies. 🙂 This is another movie bias I have.

So, you would think this review would be full of scathing remarks and pictures of chocolate cake.

But I actually – dare I say it?

I liked this movie…. a lot…..

I know right?

I actually thought it was so good that I’m going to buy it when it comes out.

And this wasn’t all warm and fuzzy like Warm Bodies either. This was actually a serious zombie movie, where good people got chewed upon.

Yeah.

It’s happening.

I now officially like two zombie movies, and one zombie tv show. That’s a record for me. 😀

Wait….

I forgot Resident Evil, just because it’s based on a beloved video game…

OM-Gosh, it *IS* the apocalypse!

I’ve heard from friends that this one is nothing like the book it’s supposed to be based on, and so some are not as happy with it. Lol, but again I have failed to read the book before seeing the movie. 🙂 So that didn’t stand in my way at all.

The storyline really drew me in, which surprised me. Usually I don’t get a lot of background – or in the one’s I’ve seen I don’t seem to. Or maybe it’s just because this was a family trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, so I paid closer attention? Either way, I cared more about these characters than I would normally allow myself to in a zombie movie – lol, because of the above mentioned apocalypse driven hopelessness and desolation and eventual painful death of absolutely everybody.

I thought they did a great job of giving me a reason to care, and getting my mind involved in how and why this all happened – which really makes me wonder about the differences from the book. I’m kinda scared to read it now, lol.

I also really liked the conclusion the main character came up with in the end. For me, it made total sense, and it did give some of that light at the end of the tunnel I’m always searching for – usually in vain.

And the zombies themselves were really impressive. These are not the shambling, slow, you could stop and consult a map, kind of zombies from older movies, or even the much faster zombies in The Walking Dead. These guys were crazy fast. Superhuman fast. And it was both insanely creepy and cool that they seemed to operate on this almost intelligent level, with a large amount of animal-like instinct.

I think the ending was the best part though. I got to a point where I was positive I was going to need the chocolate cake. I was sure they were about to hand out the misery big time.

I was annoyed at myself for allowing myself to care.

I was already plotting my route home, via a stop at Cheesecake Factory to get the most ridiculous chocolate flavored awesome I could find.

I was silently coming up with colorfully worded reactions I was going to share with you guys.

And then they surprised me.

Really nicely done. If they decide to do another one, I’ll actually go see it. 🙂

My rating for World War Z: Epic – I was surprised by how much I liked this movie. Like I said, I’m not usually much of a zombie movie fan in general, but I think this one was really well done. There was good tension, and it was creepy, and it had a surprising ending, which I almost always like in a movie. (Unless it’s the bad kind of surprise. Like the Sleeping Beauty kind of surprise. *shudder*) I’d definitely say go see this one if you like The Walking Dead or zombie movies in general. 🙂

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My Rating System:

Epic: This movie is so mind-bogglingly awesome that I may go see it twice. This one will have a place of honor on my shelf.

Cash-Worthy: Good stuff. This will most likely find a place on my shelf.

Not Bad: I liked it. I’m glad I saw it, and it may or may not end up on my shelf at some point. I would say rent it first to be safe.

Meh: Rent it first. You may love it or hate it, but I’m indifferent probably because it’s not my type of movie. I’m glad I saw it, but it won’t end up on my shelf.

Emergency Cake: I have an emotional reaction to movies sometimes, especially to tragedies. If a movie makes me sad or angry, sometimes it will stick with me for a while. At these times, only chocolate cake can save me. Chocolate cake makes everything better. No shelf for you. Ever.

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