In "World War Z" I found a movie that surpassed my expectations. Much credit must be given to the bad press and weak trailers which caused me to enter the theater with little hope. Since zombies are such uninteresting beings, it is vitally important that a zombie movie must focus on interesting alive characters, which is where Brad Pitt comes in. He plays a convincing husband and father, and is confident in his job (whatever that might be). He knows that the best way to protect those he loves, is to leave them in an attempt to solve the zombie situation. So many other movies in this genre separate the main characters for basic Scooby-Doo reasons; splitting-up guarantees greater tension. "World War Z" doesn't go for those cheap, overused plot devices, rather the characters more or less act as real people might when confronted with similar situations. Another strength of this film is the pacing, the filmmakers wisely follow Pitt's character and keep him constantly on the move. This keeps us the audience from asking too many questions, basically inaction equals death. You can't worry about the plausibility of zombies when they're about to bite you... The quick pacing is explained primarily through a detective story, in which Pitt's character must discover the origin of the zombie infection. This investigation takes him to Korea, Israel, to Wales.
...So it's been about two weeks since I wrote the first paragraph. Since then I have had time to think-on, and conversations about "World War Z". What elevates this movie above the rabble is that it has the potential to stimulate conversation. Eric was over for Independence Day, and we had a lengthy discussion about morality within the context of surviving apocalyptic scenarios. A customer at the liquor store commented on the effectiveness of the film within the confines of a PG-13 rating. Rob and I learned of the original final act shot for the film, and agree that while it would make for a completely different movie, it would be cool to see one day. Good movies entertain you for the 120± minutes that you're sitting in the theater. Great movies extend well beyond the initial experience and effect your life in unexpected ways. Of course horrible movies can closely resemble great movies by this rationale, but I'm leaning towards categorizing "World War Z" as one of the great ones.
