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Kevin Michael Vance
Writer - Portland, Oregon
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Title: WORLD WAR Z
Director: Marc Forster
Year: 2013
Reviewed: October 08, 2013
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Rice Cake-Lowest Rating |
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Just in case you've forgotten... I love movies. I love movies as much now, at age 44, as I did when I was a silly boy, scared of shadows and what might lurk beneath the bed. (Soon I won't even be able to call them films any longer. It would seem the digital age has won, much to my chagrin.) Having a smidgeon of experience in the business, and after writing, and re-writing countless, original screenplays, I know a hell of a lot more than I did twenty years ago. I know what it takes to make a movie. And it still amazes me that any movie is made, let alone a "good" movie, or even a movie that touches you in some profound manner. So it is with much humility, and a good amount of knowledge, that I can tell you "World War Z", the movie extremely loosely based on the tiresome and annoying novel of the same name is pretty fucking bad.
Now, if you haven't read the "Vanity Fair" article describing all the trials and tribulations that the film underwent, I urge you to do so. It's interesting, to say the least. And it kind of explains why a simple "zombie" movie cost upwards of two hundred million dollars.
"World War Z" is a convoluted mess. In the aforementioned article they reportedly started filming without ever having a third act, moreover the first filming of the third act was RE-FILMED for character reasons. Strangely enough the re-shot third act is the best part of the film. Act 1 is a freakin' mess. Characters, namely Brad Pitt's character, do things for no discernible reason. There is a huge action piece that sets up the tone of the first two acts, but there is no motivating factor of any kind, and Brad Pitt's character reacts to the action as if he's already read the screenplay and figured out what he's supposed to do. SPOILER ALERT! There's a scene in the first act that could have worked extremely well, not to mention the fact that I've never seen anything like it in any zombie movie I've ever seen. Brad Pitt gets blood in his mouth. He and his family are running from humans infected with some crazy zombie virus. He watched a person get bit on the street, started counting (for no apparent reason), and found out that it takes a ten count to be turned. So, back on the skyscraper roof he rushes to the edge and starts counting. At first I didn't realize what he was doing. Then when it dawned on me that he was prepared to throw himself off the building to save his family if he turned within that ten count, I was blown away. Great fuckin' scene! However, the directors pacing was all off... way too fast, way too rushed. There was no flashbacks to remind us as to what he was doing, no emotional play in Brad Pitt's mind, or eyes to tell us what he was doing, and the scene lacked impact. And then, all of a sudden, Matthew Foxx jumped out of a helicopter. There was no reason, that I could see, for Matthew Foxx, an extremely well known actor to be in a bit part containing only a couple of lines. But I digress.
Then there's the zombies. For some reason they made the asinine decision to make all the zombies in Act one and two CGI. One of the worst decisions a director can make, and Francis Lawrence did the exact same thing in his pathetic version of Richard Matheson's fantastic story, "I am Legend", is replace prosthetics and actors with computer generated images. It just doesn't make sense; make up design and creature effects are better than they have ever been, and Marc Forster decides to make his zombies cartoon characters with no personality. But then again, he really doesn't. For in Act three everything is different; the pacing slows down, the zombies are actors in prosthetic make up, the drama and the tension increase as Brad Pitt's character decides to risk life and limb to find a zombie camouflage. Well... whatever...
Basically, a big budget mess. "World War Z" gets a RICE CAKE review.
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