I remember vividly the disappointment I had watching Steven Spielberg's take on THE LOST WORLD as a kid, one day after I finally finished reading the original Michael Crichton novel. Of course, nowadays I don't have a fond opinion of either, thanks to the quickly dwindling creative talent of Crichton, but that moment in the theaters always stick with me as my first taste of sloppy book adaptations to film. Now, I have the latest entry in this sour genre. WORLD WAR Z, as a movie itself, is an entertaining horror-show journey around the world. As a book adaptation, of the popular niche zombie novel by Max Brooks, however, it's at the very bottom, falling past the John Ford classic THE GRAPES OF WRATH and splatting itself right next to the "happy ending" of Roland Joffé's THE SCARLET LETTER. Sure, there are films that steer away from their literary source and become masterpieces (THE SHINING) but this film was another LOST WORLD for me, even though I will gladly watch this any day over that tripe.
Instead of a lengthy chronicle of how zombies ravaged our planet, all from different viewpoints, the film just sticks close to Brad Pitt. He plays a former UN investigator who now relishes spending time with his wife (Mireille Enos) and his two young girls, all in the same setup that started off Zack Snyder's DAWN OF THE DEAD. Sitting through a complete traffic jam within Philadelphia, they eventually are forced to bolt from an invading crowd of people attacking other humans. They are technically zombies, of the running kind popularized by Danny Boyle, but they don't seek out brains and tear the flesh off of anyone. Instead, once an infected person bites a living individual, they transfer the disease into their bloodstream; literally ten seconds later, that person becomes another addition to the undead flock. So, in other words, they still continue to follow the template devised in 28 DAYS LATER. Why not just call this 28 MONTHS LATER? Anyway, Pitt and his family are later rescued by his friends in the UN. Unfortunately, Pitt needs to help them find a cure from various world sources or else his wife and kids will have to risk being sent back into the zombie wild.
Except for the minor remarks about "rabies", the only thing that comes straight from the text in perfect condition is most of the scenario involving Israel. As in the book, they are the only country who took heed to the scientific reports about a possible zombie outbreak, thanks to their "Tenth Man" policy, and began to create a walled-off civilization for themselves and those of Muslim faith who wished to return to their original homes. The big change to this scenario is its ending: Pitt and a small crew of soldiers have to deal with a rush of zombies, who figured out that they can comically make a human ladder to get over the walls. I understand this change because after all, I currently sitting through something designed for mass consumption and high popcorn sales. It's just a little sad that one of the few chances of hope in the book has been remodeled to be another depressing affair.
Despite these misgivings with the adaptation, the movie is fairly stable and entertaining to behold. It seems all of that publicity of creative differences and budgetary problems were for naught. Each major set-piece is expertly planned out, giving us a chance to breathe in the tension and frights. It's quite clever how they worked around the journalistic aspects of the book by having their original character play as our eyes and ears, being transported to several countries and overhearing other people's horror stories. Even the twists come as slick surprises, most notably a genius use of magazines and duct tape. However, though the switch from bloodthirsty creatures to bacteria-spreading, feral animals is justifiable, the lack of gore is quite perplexing, particularly when one character loses an arm.
Pitt isn't very expressive during nearly all of the trials and tribulations but he does feature a soulful presence, constantly fearful of cracking under the pressure and/or never seeing his loved ones again. Since we jump from country to country, we get to experience some small delights in the form of extras and supporting players. For instance, James Badge Dale has a brief, noteworthy role as a macho soldier watching over the quiet road to North Korea. But it is an unknown actress who really grabs the spotlight for all of its worth: Daniella Kertesz pops in as an Israeli ally to Pitt during the film's second half. Reckless and driven to fight back even after some harsh punishments, she has a quiet, deep friendship with the American stranger who pulled her from the despair.
If you are like myself, previously enamored with the fiction of Max Brooks, you'll hopefully forgive the makers for their blasphemy to the text quickly in order to sit back to enjoy the crowd-pleasing, zombie festivities. That is, of course, if you're not a zombie purist, forever rueing the day Boyle displayed the running dead on the big screen.
FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5
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