World War Z
Dir: Marc Forster
2013
****
I got the book and I even got it signed by the author Max Brooks. Mr Brooks is a great guy, I resisted the urge to ask for stories about his parents and stuck to talking about Zombies. He knows his stuff! His book The Zombie Survival Guide is proof. So here comes my confession; I watched the film without reading the book. I have broken my own rule and I am disgusted with myself. To be honest, when talking to Mr Brooks about the film he admitted that he had not watched the film yet and had little to no input in its production which makes me wonder whether they are alike at all. I'll have to read the book *slaps self in face*. Anyway, I like the film very much. It's a reinvention of the genre, that is, a reinvention of the Zombie itself. The characteristics are the same but the method in which they are portrayed has been deconstructed. All cliches are gone and anything vaguely similar is handled differently. George A. Romero's Zombie films are all about symbolism, each episode centering on one of mankind's biggest questions. World War Z centers more on the idea of bacteria, the spread of disease, the idea of working together, unity in the face of adversity, war, etc. I'm not saying George A. Romero's films aren't intelligent but World War Z is more about intelligent design rather than philosophic symbolism. The idea of the Zombies being full of rage and running rather than walking is nothing new but the idea of them working as a unit kind of is. I immediately thought of them as worker ants which I can't say I've ever seen them as before. An intelligent Block-buster, now that is a nice change!