World War Z (2013) - Review

World War Z is a movie about zombies.  It is not a good movie about zombies; most zombie movies during the recent resurgence of the undead have not been good movies, but this one stands out in the sense that it does nothing new whatsoever.  Yep, it actually stands out in its complete and utter unoriginality.

I haven’t read the book, but I know that the movie took a more traditional “during the apocalypse” route than the book, which was more of a study of how the world would function if this were to really happen.  The zombie genre as a whole tends to not excite me (although I love Shaun of the Dead as much as the next Wright/Pegg/Frost fan), but here the concept is executed in an exceptionally boring and standard way.

The only time the movie elicits any response that isn’t an eyeroll of familiarity is in the third act where Brad Pitt must sneak through a lab full of the infected, which is surprisingly tense in points.  I only mention this because Drew Goddard was hired to rewrite the third act of the script and it’s very telling that this is the only part of the movie I enjoyed.  Goddard is a stellar writer – just watch Cabin in the Woods, or his Buffy and Angel episodes from Seasons 7 and 5, respectively.  The guy’s great; he could have probably made a worthwhile script if he had control over the entire thing, but one-third of a movie isn’t TOO bad I suppose.

Coolest image in the movie - now you don't have to waste your time

Ultimately, even including the decent final third of the film, there’s really nothing in this that should make you want to watch it.  If you’re interested in the zombie genre, watch some of the Romero classics, or newer films that are doing something a little different like Shaun of the Dead, Warm Bodies, and I’ve heard Fido is pretty decent too.  Don’t settle for this big-budget borefest.