World War Z (Marc Forster, 2013) - 4 stars

World War Z is Marc Forster’s loose adaptation of Max Brooks’ novel of the same name, one of the few remaining similarities between the source and the film. It stars Brad Pitt, who also produces, as Gerry Lane- a UN agent and a family man, given the task of answering the question ‘why?’ when a virus outbreak leads to a global zombie epidemic. Forster’s background in both human dramas and action thrillers has been utilized here to create a large-scale apocalypse movie with heart and people we care about.

There is nothing new in World War Z. The huge visions of disaster evoke any of Roland Emmerich’s blockbusters from the past 10 years, while the third act looks like it could have been lifted straight from the cutting room floor of 28 Days Later (including a laughably similar soundtrack for this segment). And although it asks a similar question to that of I Am legend, it manages to surpass all of these films. Why? It is free from the constraints of simply being a genre vehicle, whether that may be horror or disaster. Instead, this is an apocalypse with soul, a disaster with more than just CGI to offer. It delivers precisely where most zombie and apocalyptic movies attempt, and fail, to do – in its realism. Often small-scale is mistaken for realism, because it is gritty, at street level, and therefore the huge budget and visual effects team at Forster’s disposal, would tend to be overlooked as glossy and ungrounded. But it is quite the opposite- Forster’s vision is probably far closer to a real zombie apocalypse than any other film has reached before simply because of the scale and the breadth of what we see (we are privy to action and drama in the USA, Israel, South Korea and the UK).

Another reason the film works so well, is that it is given a 15 rating and while in most areas it acts like a film with a 12 certificate, the higher rating comes from the fact that the film opts for consequential violence. A lot of disaster films are enjoyed because destruction happens without consequence- the delight is in seeing a building crumble and not being faced with what this means for the residents or tourists. But this in turn leads to characters and plot we do not care about, disaster that does not matter. So when World War Z adds consequences, the outbreak and destruction means something for the characters and therefore for the audience.

It is disappointing, then, to see the ending of the film not deliver in the same way the rest of it has. I favoured the way it suggests the acts of the film have been more of a delay than a cure, but too many times are narratives wrapped up with media headlines instead of drama. Relying heavily on an emotional score and news report montages, the film displays a potential lack of conviction in the last five minutes.

World War Z takes multiple genres and almost delivers on all fronts. It may not be the Summer blockbuster you were expecting, but with the disappointments of The Great Gatsby and Man Of Steel, my advice would be to enjoy this one while you can.