Movie Review: World War Z (2013)

The movie stars Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, Matthew Fox, Elen Rhys and Peter Capaldi.

My wife and I had the house to ourselves Valentine's Day night and, since neither of us is really into sappy (or even steamy) romantic movies, we decided to watch something from the horror movie/thriller genre instead. We hadn't seen the film World War Z yet so, since it was on Netflix, that turned out to be our choice.

I've seen quite a few zombie movies and very few are all that memorable. This was one of the films that fell into that category.

One thing I really liked about this movie was the fact it got right into the main plot with plenty of action from the start and, unlike so many other zombie films, didn't give the hero (Pitt) a chance to catch his breath. If he wasn't avoiding zombies climbing over a wall in Israel, he was trying to escape them while on a commercial jet. 

Another thing I liked about this movie was the fact the zombies weren't the stereotypical slow-moving creatures so many other films and television shows use. The fact they were quick moving and were able to adapt and work as a team when needed made them much more exciting to watch. 

I also liked the fact their sole purpose for biting people was to spread the, quick-acting disease. This meant they could move much quicker (because they weren't bothering to actually eat anyone) and one zombie could become thousands in a matter of minutes. In other words, it isn't the typical zombie apocalypse most of us imagine and mentally prepare for.

Probably my only complaint about this movie was the casting of Pitt in the lead role. I've always thought of him as an actor that does better in an ensemble cast rather than a leading man and his performance in this movie honestly didn't do much to change my mind about him. 

He did OK. But, there were times when his acting was stiff and his character just seemed to lack any sort of emotion. And, let's be honest, I could think of at least a half dozen other action-movie actors that would have been better.

As I said before, Pitt was a questionable choice for the hero in this film. However, the non-stop action and overall plot more than made up for this. I enjoyed watching this movie as a result of that and would definitely recommend it.

My Grade: A