Happy Monday, Imaginarians! Hope you all had a great weekend. I took my nephew to see one of my most highly anticipated films this year, World War Z. I was looking forward to this one because I was hoping they would liven up the book, which to me is very dry, being a series of interviews about the zombie apocalypse. Zombies must be active for me and happening right now, memories of the apocalypse are just passive and rather boring. So I was all geared up for this and was not disappointed.The story moves fast, Brad and family are getting ready for the day and there are subtle hints that Brad has a past of some import. The little things said in the dialogue between him and his wife, played perfectly by Mirielle Enos, and the daughter questioning why his job is just to make breakfast. And the TV news in the background that he watches. Terrific, if brief character development for our hero. Soon all hell breaks loose while they just sitting in traffic. I really dug that as I've sat in rush hour traffic fantasizing about alien invasions, zombies, etc. and this movie went there. Hell to the yeah. The melee that ensues is spot on reaction by people.
From there it relentless pace with some slow down time here and there so we can catch our breath. The action is stunning, using shaky cam effects to wonderful effect as it gives you the feeling of being right there in the midst of it all. We are creeping down the dim halls with Brad, there as the zombies rush at him. The scenes in the apartment building as they are headed to the roof are chaotic and cool as hell. I thought it was brilliant that they taped magazines to their arms to help avoid bites.
I loved the CGI here, it was somewhat natural looking and not too cartoony as CGI can be. The scene where the horde envelops an Israeli city is amazing. And I thought the creepiest zombie ever was the woman in the glass cage at the World Health Organization lab. Yikes! Those snapping teeth and the unholy hissing along with her disturbing eyes was just ewww... I really dug the speed of the zombies and how they were drawn by noise. Forster created some wonderfully tense moments that had the audience in my theater gasping at every small sound.
There were some bad product placement, which I did not like, but I've seen worse. There was no swearing and no gore whatsoever, which are kind of important when dealing with the end of the world and zombies in my opinion. I think this movie was epic fun and you will enjoy it. I can't wait to own it.
