World War Z – Movie Reviews by Michael E ****
World War Z: Humanity is at risk as it’s being overrun by a zombie apocalypse. One man, Gerry Lane, has to travel the globe and find a cure for this terrible crisis.
Review by Michael E.
World War Z (2013) Michael E’s Rating: ****
(see rating system below)
Run Time: 116 minutes
Rated: PG-13
Director: Marc Forster
Ever since George A. Romero’s 1968 classic, “Night of the Living Dead,” entered our lives, we have had a love affair with zombie movies. Films such as “Dawn of the Dead,” “Return of the Living Dead,” “28 Days Later,” “(REC),” “Quarantine,” “Resident Evil” and “Shaun of the Dead,” all fine films, have presented their own quirky spins on the genre … and, for the most part, have been strong box-office performers.
Enter this movie, the granddaddy of them all.
The world is being overrun by a zombie apocalypse. Humanity is at risk as governments are toppled and armies are demolished. One man, Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt, in a notable performance), a former United Nations employee, has to travel the globe and find a cure for this terrible crisis.
Gerry, a retired United Nations’ employee living in Philadelphia, is now a stay-at- home dad to his two children, Constance (Sterling Jerins) and Rachel (Abigail Hargrove). His wife, Karin (Mireille Enos), enjoys Gerry being home as his job was starting to strain their marriage. One morning after making breakfast, the family leaves together to take the kids to school. Within minutes, they hear on the radio reports of a rabies outbreak that has spread throughout the world. Moments later, utter chaos ensues when a mass of zombies envelop upon the city. We learn, however, that this isn’t happening just in Philadelphia, but the entire world.
Without delving too much more into the story, Gerry meets a few people who try and help him during this horrific ordeal to find a cure. Among the people he meets, one, an Israeli soldier named Segen (Daniella Kertesz, in a standout performance), becomes his friend and ally, as they try, together, to defeat the horde of the undead.
The movie is based on a 2006 novel of the same name written by Max Brooks. It is a terrific movie, with some solid CGI, tons of action and terrific acting. Kudos to Daniella Kertesz, particularly as she has star power written all over her.
Okay a quick rant: Rotten Tomatoes gave “World War Z” a 67%, primarily because it diverged so strongly from the acclaimed source material. When was the last time
a book and a movie were 100% compatible? Hard to fathom! It’s time to judge these films on their own merits and not on biased expectations. This is what you are going to get with my reviews.
From start to finish I felt as if I was Gerry, going on this crazy journey with him. I was engrossed, transformed, and found myself rooting for the death of the zombies. “World War Z” is a terrific, crowd-pleasing movie, with some solid CGI, tons of action and terrific acting. Director Marc Forster could do no wrong as his timing was superlative.
Thank you actorsreporter.com for allowing me to level the playing field between viewer and pseudo-intellectual professional movie critic. Sorry all, you do not know better than the rest of us.
Stay tuned!
Michael’s rating system:
1/2 Terrible movie (Bomb)
Not a good movie, just missed being a bomb
*1/2 Bad movie
** Boring movie
*** Good, solid movie
***1/2 Great movie, just missed being a classic
**** Classic movie
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Movie Reviews by Michael E is a column on Actors Reporter, a channel on the Actors Podcast Network, a Pepper Jay Production