Horror Stack - World War Z: Unrated Cut (2013)

Director: Marc Forster

Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, Fana Mokoena

Country: United States

Rating: Unrated

Run Time: 122 min

Horror Stack is a series dedicated to reviewing films within the horror genre specifically during October in order to get myself into the mood of the Halloween season. Whether I've seen them before or not at all, those stacks of horror film DVDs and Blu-Rays are never better than during October.

I never got around to catching World War Z upon its initial release. I was kind of a schmuck and wrote it off as a throwaway blockbuster based on all of the film's notorious production issues and umpteenth portrayal of a zombie invasion. However, I finally caught the film two years after its release and am pleasantly surprised to discover that it is an extremely intense and terrifying blockbuster. 

Director Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, Machine Gun Preacher) earned many action fan's chagrin when he brought Paul Greengrass' shay cam style of action photography to the Bond series in 2008. This style of action, according to Vern of OutlawVern.com, can also be referred to as "post-action." Fortunately, Forster shows an improvement in his action competence with several visually comprehensive set pieces that racket up the tension and exude sheer horror with their zombified proceedings. Even though World War Z bases its plot around a zombified infection, one of the most over used plots in recent horror cinema, the film distinguishes itself due to its epic scale and non-stop action that lands the film more in the action genre than it does horror. Still, horror fans will find plenty to love here based purely upon the graphic nature of Forster's zombified mayhem and the unbearable amount of tension on display.

Just your average, ordinary, zombie killing, dad.

Based upon Max Brook's novel of the same name, which was a sequel to his more comedic The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z tells the story of one UN investigator's search for answers concerning a devastating zombie outbreak. Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is now a retired UN investigator who dedicates his time to being with his family. Unfortunately, Lane and his family are immediately thrust into the midst of a zombie outbreak as their home town is laid waste too by violence and death. After being rescued by helicopter, Lane and his family take refuge upon a UN battleship. It is here where Lane is told that he must investigate into the outbreak's origins in order to ensure his family a place upon the ship. Therefore, Lane travels the world in search of the infection's cure in order to ensure his family's safety.

World War Z is a global and action packed zombie infection film that bases its plot around one of the genre's most successful conceits. There's no denying that zombie infection films are a dime a dozen. Some of the best examples of the genre (i.e. 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, I Am Legend, and even the television series The Walking Dead) achieve greatness through their personal and small scaled stories that concern a select group of characters. However, World War Z is unique in that it focuses upon a small group of characters amidst widespread panic and devastation. Even though the film is a full blown disaster movie, it is also a personal story about survival and investigation.

Brad Pitt (Troy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) does a fine job as Gerry Lane, a determined father of two who puts his life on the line to uncover the infection's mysteries. Even though Pitt is on point, Lane is a particularly bland character. Beyond his motivation and goal, that is to protect his family and discover a cure, there is nothing more to Gerry than meets the eye. Lane is purely a vessel the film uses to traverse the epic devastation with. He's a fine character, but in no way a memorable hero when stripped of Pitt's A-list name. If Pitt didn't play the character, than audiences probably wouldn't care for him as much. Still, Forster does a good job instilling a sense of discovery and innovation within the audience through Lane's journey.

Watching soldiers lay waste to zombies has never been so awesome.

This brings up another unfortunate truth about the film: it's supporting cast. Despite Pitt, no other character in the film has any characteristic to them beyond their profession. Everyone is in service of the plot, plain and simple. However, Israeli newcomer, Daniella Kertesz, shines bright as a soldier who accompanies Lane throughout the second half of the film. She's even more memorable than Lane's own wife, a damning truth if there ever was one.

Forster keeps World War Z jam packed with as much zombie action as possible as the film moves from set piece to set piece. However, World War Z excels as a zombie invasion picture because its action is not only exciting, but terrifying and visceral as well. Forster does a fantastic job balancing exciting large scale set pieces with horrifying small scale ones that give the audience both the thrills and chills of a terror picture. The first 30 minutes of the film mainly focus on Lane and his family's escape from their hometown. Therefore, all of the film's initial action is made all the more horrifying because the characters are hopelessly vulnerable and their situation terrifyingly realistic. We see Lane and his family move through a massive car pile up, survive a gun fight in a grocery store, and than work their way through a close quarters apartment filled with infected zombies. The film's first act feels like a whole different film of its own: that of a family working together to survive a horrific incident. 

I initially feared that World War Z would than place its focus entirely on Lane, as his family would no longer take precedent in a journey across the world. Fortunately, Forster repeatedly brings up Lane's wife and family throughout the plot in order to remind audiences of their importance to his quest. Even Lane's selfless moments during the film's emotional climax are preceded by him sharing his love to his family. Therefore, Lane remains a family man from start to finish, no matter what the zombie mayhem.

If this is what rewrites and production problems get you, than I'm in.

World War Z kicks into high gear once Lane gets on a plane and flies across the planet. Lane encounters a plethora of increasingly terrifying set pieces that traverse South Korea to Jerusalem. The film delivers its most blockbuster styled action when Jerusalem falls at the hands of thousands of infected zombies. Forster depicts zombified devastation on a scale previously unseen in all of horror cinema. This sequence features incredible imagery of zombies swarming over the tops of Jerusalem's walls as helicopters hover around and fire away at thousands of zombified bodies. One could pause any instance of Forster's grandest set piece and frame it as a work of art; the cinematography and special effects on display during the fall of Jerusalem is truly jaw dropping. The sequence's imagery recalls the Wachowski's incredible craft in The Matrix Revolutions when swarms of sentinels poured into the city of Zion during the film's final battle.

Forster than follows up the Jerusalem mayhem with the film's two most horrifying sequences: a zombie attack upon an airplane and Lane's journey through the infected halls of a research center. If plane crashes weren't terrifying enough, than imagine one preceded by a zombie attack upon said plane. Forster truly forces the audience onto the edge of their seat throughout every single one of the film's set pieces; the tension and suspense is that unrelenting. After all of its zombified mayhem and city wide devastation, World War Z shoots small and sets its finale within a small research center. This third act was infamously rewritten by screenwriters Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods) and David Lindelof (Prometheus) in order to save the film from its otherwise original bleak ending. This thankfully rewritten finale is extremely emotional and the key to the film's success. Forster's "zombie film to end all zombie films" is particularly exciting, emotional, and horrifying for a film with a title as silly as World War Z. 

It should also be stressed that one should only watch the unrated cut of World War Z (found upon its Blu Ray disc and streaming on Netflix). The unrated cut is far more violent and filled with added violence, gun shots, gore, and zombie deaths. This cut is clearly the definitive version of the film and leaps and bounds better than the otherwise tame PG-13 theatrical cut. Even though the theatrical cut is still solid, the unrated cut is where true action and horror fans will find their satisfaction time and time again. World War Z joins the ranks of recent action films Taken and The Wolverine whose true definitive cuts can only be found on home video, not in the theater or on T.V.

Gerry Lane: The Zombie Whisperer

The biggest thing working against World War Z is its own respective genre. Ever since Danny Boyle and Alex Garland introduced fast zombies to the mix in 2002 with 28 Days Later, the zombie genre resurged like never before. Similar films, such as Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead, Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake, as well as George A. Romero's Land of the Dead, heralded the zombie's return to horror cinema. Warner Bros.' big budget I Am Legend and AMC's immensely successful The Walking Dead series brought the post-apocalyptic zombie film into the mainstream like never before. Unfortunately, post-apocalyptic zombie films and television series dominate mainstream entertainment so much now, that their scares, plots, and zombified imagery all start to blend at some point and leave the viewer numb to their horror. Therefore, World War Z's zombified mayhem feels extremely, and I feel silly to use the phrase, "been there, done that." Forster is simply too late to the game for his film to be as affective or as ground breaking as previous "fast moving zombie films."

That being said, World War Z is the best "been there, done that" zombie film I have ever seen. Forster crafts several immensely terrifying set pieces that make World War Z one of the most affective blockbusters in recent years. Few films with a price tag of $200 million feature as much tension, excitement, and horror as Forster's latest. Pitt's determined performance, along with the film's incredible special effects and solid script, certify World War Z as one of contemporary action/horror's very finest.

Rating: 8/10 - Intense, suspenseful, horrifying, and emotional. Get on it!