World War Z
( ~~~~ spoilers alert ~~~~~ )
Wow, this is a terrific film for the most part.
Loved the opening sequences showing bees, birds, then stranded dolphins, then wolves and other animals attacking / fighting / biting each other. It was kind of an allusion of the transfer up the food chain of whatever it is that turns living organisms into zombisms.
The first few scenes in the big city, must be Philly, were pretty intense and captured the initial spread pretty well from a WHAT'S GOING ON??! point of view. I thought very well done. People running, scared, from what? Who knows? And then people getting attacked, and the camera focusing on them, and showing them turning, then attacking others. Nicely done. And into the supermarket where they were trying to show the initial breakdown of society in general, and of laws, kind of rushed but nicely done, with pharmacy guy, with the attack on the wife, and shooting of one of the attackers with a cop showing up right away and totally ignoring the whole incident in order to go grab stuff.
And then the transition into them running into a building...I noticed the wino sitting outside drinking, and all the zombies just running right by him and thought that this must be an early foreshadow of some sort. Uh huh. Then the family that wouldn't go with Gerry's family (movement is life sequence), sure enough the father was shown turned just minutes after the knock on their door...and yet more use for duct tape! That was brilliant, taping a thick magazine around the lead forearm, and also creating a bayonet from the rifle. Points for every possible use from that modified rifle! Close quarters stabbing, shooting, head butting using the stock end, using the shaft for the zombies to bite into. All great.
Gerry getting some zombie blood in his mouth and realizing he may need to kill himself to protect his family jumps right on the building ledge, ready to jump...up until this rooftop helicopter rescue moment the intensity was incredible in the film.
On the aircraft carrier, deducting a point for when Gerry addresses a full bird Colonel as "Captain" and the producers didn't even bother to redo the scene. Oops.
And then lol at the "savior" virologist tripping and killing himself right as they were trying to deplane in South Korea. ha.
Incredible Jerusalem scenes showing the zombies invading over the wall. And then in the airplane...how did a zombie get in the lavatory? But what an incredible display of how quickly the disease spread up through the passenger ranks...
The ending sequences were fairly predictable, with the injection and all. Very rushed in the end with everything left kind of as a cliffhanger. "At least we have a chance" kind of thing. Wonder what the intentions were / are with this? Sequel? Transition to a TV series?
Very enjoyable film for me overall. Loved seeing zombies with a lot of life in them ha ha... really badass kind of monsters, the kind to truly be afraid of.
I'll go 8.5 out of 10
Sam Raimi reprises his first film, and gives us a glimpse into things to come, regarding time travel, double barreled shotguns, chainsaws, and flying monster creepies.
