World War Z

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Synopsis: The ‘Z’ stands for ‘ZOMFG this is cool!’

Review: So long story short, this is a zombie movie. Wrap it up any way you like the plot theme follows the same old recipe: infection occurs, spreads through the world, military take control, cure is eventually found, world takes a while to return to normal.  Much like the current Labour leadership, we’ve seen it before, it’s the same, just with a different flavour of shit seasoning sprinkled on top. The flip-side of that coin is – THIS IS A FREAKING ZOMBIE FLICK, and no matter which way you look at it zombie flicks are awesome! World War Z follows the rapid spread of a zombie plague through the eyes of protagonist Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), an ex-UN employee with a specialist set of skills that makes him the man to figure out how to save the world. Gerry and his family are quickly embroiled in the rapid spread of the disease as it takes over Philadelphia and eventually the rest of the US. Gerry is called on by the US Military to assist an investigation in to the origin of the zombie ‘disease’, which sees him traverse the globe in a search for the cure.

Now, “why see this film?” I hear you ask. “’I’ve seen zombie movies before and to be honest I don’t care for them, also, I’m out of adult diapers”. The answer is simple - the scale of this movie makes all other zombie flicks barely comparable. World War Z starts off faster than a virgin holding hands and (much unlike the virgin) keeps you absolutely enthralled and engaged for the duration of the film. The action scenes are so intense I was longing for a pause button so I could take a few moments to regain my composure before continuing with the incessant suspenseful violence. Brad Pitt is absolutely fantastic (man crushes aside) and carries the story along as the hero superbly. The directing (courtesy of Marc Forster of Quantum of Solace fame) is concentrated, yet broad enough in some of the more intense scenes to really keep you feeling like you’re about to have your jugular ripped out by an infected grandma.  Special mention should also be made about the soundtrack - composed and performed by Matt Bellamy and Muse – which provides a fantastically haunting aural background to many scenes in the movie.

Overall World War Z is a somewhat predictable, yet extremely engaging take on a genre most of us are pretty familiar with. Yes it uses many of the typical clichés we’ve seen before, like “ok we’re just going to sneak past these zombies”, dude clumsily clangs into the loudest item into the room, zombies chase and so on; but you’re able to overlook that because it’s just so damn badass. I’ll admit it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea with many scenes providing more confronting footage than a World Vision advertisement, but if you’re looking for something that will get the heart pumping a little (or a lot) then this is for you. I highly recommend taking along someone who you’re happy to give an “it’s gonna be ok” hug to, even if that means indulging in a little bro-mance. As far as zombie apocalypse flicks go you’ll find it hard to find a better option, check it out soon before the real apocalypse is upon us!

Score: 4/5