12
FILM
Issue 52 / 2013
www.guestlist.net
World
War Z
Director Marc Foster proves to not only to be the best at making
Bond films but fast sprinting zombie's in a world apocalypse
too.
June 21st
You can't help but feel for Quantum of
Solace director Marc Forster. After all,
one of the reasons last year's Skyfall
found such acclaim was for freeing
the rebooted Bond franchise from the
artistic cul-de-sac his own contribution
had backed the series into. But Bond
is tricky, bearing a need for both
reinvigoration and reflection on its own
iconography. Zombie films, however,
carry a far more 'A to B' approach, and
Forster gleefully takes us all the way
to Z with this apocalyptic blockbuster.
World War Z's pulpy title and plot – UN
investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) sets
out across our zombie-addled Earth
to find patient zero – may appear as a
warning sign to some. But the presence
of Pitt does go some way towards
glossing over any gaps in credibility.
While he is in no danger of stretching
himself as affable family man Lane,
Pitt remains watchable throughout –
no small feat considering the hollow
characterisation on show. You may be
wondering what exactly is the point of a
$200 million zombie movie when all the
classics of the genre have been made
on a shoestring budget. Reports of the
film's troubled production have hinted
at the globetrotting nature of the script
to have racked up a few bills, but to be
fair, this is the film's trump card. Never
has a zombie apocalypse been viewed
with such scope, with trips to South
Korea, Jerusalem and Wales aiding
Forster in establishing the devastation
on a global level. The money certainly
wasn't spent on offal. Gunning for a PG13 rating in the U.S., Forster eschews
gore in favour of fast cuts. In this
sense, World War Z doesn't really feel
like a zombie film. That is until a tense
showdown in a laboratory in Cardiff
(Yes, really!) adds a claustrophobic
twist to proceedings. Keeping its lofty
ambitions (and budget) in mind, it's
tempting to add a few more Z's to
the end of the film's title, but in reality,
Forster's bold addition to the zombie
genre regularly impresses.
