WORLD WAR Z

US, 2013, 116 minutes, Colour.
Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos,
Directed by Marc Forster.

World War Z. And, yes, Z is for Zombies.

Even though the film has a big star, Brad Pitt, a reputable director, Marc Forster ( Monsters Ball, Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner), and a big budget for locations, special effects and action sequences, audiences who do not like zombie films will not be converted. It is a film only for those who like or who can tolerate zombies on screen.

The quiet family opening sequences gives a false sense of security and calm. It is a mere lull. A traffic jam in Philadelphia follows where we share the frustration of the family and then, boom. Explosions, zombies smashing into windscreens, crazed crowds in panic, vehicles crashing everywhere. So, we are off. All around the world, the zombie plague is overwhelming, reports from everywhere. Can the world survive this plague? For most of the film, our bets would be that it won’t.

Fortunately, Dad is a previous UN expert and he is being called in. After a scary chase, hiding and zombie pursuit in Newark (with scenes of looting in a supermarket reminiscent of several Zombie movies like Day of the Dead), the family is whisked away to a ship off shore which has a huge and sometimes frantic war and strategy room. Gerry (Pitt) is sent to find the source of the outbreak, which leads him to a tense visit to Korea, then off to Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem section raises queries about what it is showing. Israel is free from plague because of its security, especially the wall. But outside the wall, and clambering mountains of zombies scaling the wall, people are infected. It might give an impression that Israel is safe and saved and those outside in the Palestinian territories are infected and killers. But, when Jerusalem is invaded and citizens become zombies, it might seem that Israel’s walls to keep enemies out is a vain hope, a false sense of security. Whatever the interpretation, the Jerusalem crowd scenes are quite spectacular in their way.

But, no solution there and Gerry is off to a World Health Organisation research centre outside Cardiff. Some plot aspects here (crashing so near the plant, Gerry impaled but able to walk, the Israeli soldier who was bitten on the hand and Gerry instantly slicing off her hand to save her) defy credibility.

In the facility, there is a collection of European character actors including Peter Capaldi, Moritz Bleibtreu, Ruth Negga, Pierfrancisco Favino, who give some gravitas to the tension. And the film becomes quieter and Gerry risks everything to get an antidote, something like a war commando raid.

There is a possible solution but the film ends on a moment of hope that the war will be won – but that it is just beginning. A sequel is possible although something similar was seen in Contagion.

1. The impact of the film? A zombie film? The conventions of the genre? Variations? A more up-market zombie film? Big budget?

2. For audiences who do not like zombie films?

3. For fans of the genre? Aspects the same, the crowds of zombies, the attacks, the looting in the supermarkets, the appearances, the frenzies, attacking the humans, biting? The differences for the fans? The plague, the global consequences? Finding the source of the outbreak? The war?

4. An apocalyptic film? The deadly outbreaks, epidemic, contagion, plague, global proportions? The search for the origins, the rapid spread, governments and loss of control, the military, communications, telephone links, the search for killers? Theories about cures?

5. The very quiet opening, the family, ordinary life, a lull before the storm? The traffic jam, the sudden explosions, the zombies crashing into windscreens? Gerry, his control, the two daughters, health issues? The vehicles and the crashing?

6. The van, going north? The phone call from the United Nations vice president? The request? Getting to Newark, the looting in the supermarket, getting the medication for his daughter, the man with the gun, helping, the policeman and his raiding the shelves? The wife and her stocking up? Hiding, going to the room, the family, the translations, the little boy? The family deciding to stay, the boy going out, the dangers of going up the stairs to the roof, the pursuit up the stairs, the helicopters, getting the family on board, going to the ship?

7. The ship out and the ocean, the war room, the large staff, communications? Thierry, the general and his discussions with Gerry, the accommodation for the family, the threat that they be ousted if he did not go? The phone and the communication with his wife?

8. On the plane, the virologist and his expertise, young, his theory of camouflage and weaknesses of the zombies themselves? Gerry listening and using the information later? The arrival in Korea, the mystery, shoot out and the death of the scientist? The range of military, the quarantine, the Doctor and the flashback and his being bitten? The CIA officer and his selling arms to North Korea? No solutions? Leaving Korea, the difficulties in refueling, the escape?

9. The experts, going to Jerusalem, the visuals of the city, the walls? Keeping people out, the piles of zombies, scaling the wall? The political status of Israel, the building of the wall to keep out the Palestinians? Keeping out the infected? Security, Jerusalem and being invaded, a false security? The Israeli Soldier, her work, her being bitten, Gerry slicing off her hand? Missing those who are invisible and passed by the zombies? The quick spread in Jerusalem, the Belarus plane? Escape?

10. The military, searching, the need for silence, the phone ringing? The phone calls between Gerry and his wife?

11. The 11 seconds for the transformation? The young Israeli soldier, bitten, Gerry slicing off her hand?

12. The takeoff, lowering the ladder to get Gerry on board? The Belarus plane? The passengers, reassured, the sudden emerging of the zombies? Seeming like Gerry’s dream, but reality? The zombies in economy class? The piling up of the luggage, not preventing chaos? The pilots and their trying to cope? The Welsh countryside, hoping to land in Cardiff? The crash landing? The deaths?

13. Gerry and the soldier surviving, his being impaled, the closeness of the plant, walking, the rival?

14. World Health Organization, the staff, from different nations? The phone calls to verify Gerry’s status? His explaining the theory of the dead virologist? The stations, tension, Gerry, the soldier and the Italian going in, getting through, like a commando raid in war? Distracting the zombies with noise? The Italian and the soldier getting out? Gerry going in, the box full of villains? His injecting himself, becoming invisible to the zombie at the duel, walking through the crowds?

15. The family, their being ousted from the ship, the settlement in nova Scotia? Juries return?

16. The information, some success in killers, but the war beginning?