Let me start by saying that Max Brooks' World War Z is one of my favorite books I've read in the last ten years. As such, when it comes to watching a film that's very honest about making changes from its source material, I was biased from the start. Hell, I'm still biased. I admit that. All the same, I tried to go into World War Z with an open mind. After all, though it may not be good (as in accurate) as an adaptation of Brooks' book, it could still be good as a movie. And that's what important. People complaining that "Waaaah, you changed [some tiny thing]" always gets on my nerves. A movie has to work as itself, and every individual element has to be in service of that, not the book/comic book/whatever.
So attending a screening of World War Z started with me tamping down my inner hypocrite. And then, near the end, saying "screw it" and letting my inner hypocrite fly from my mouth like a shrieking (but silently, because movie theater), movie-obsessed banshee. Because World War Z? Is just bad.
Well, no, that might be a bit harsh. It's not "bad" like Green Lantern. It's more not good like The Amazing Spider-Man. Which for me is just as disappointing because it had such excellent source material to work with. I'll take awful over blah any day. At least awful is interesting.
As a movie, World War Z is so by-the-numbers that it's just plain wasteful. Wasteful of the money spent on it. Wasteful of the many amazing elements of the book. Wasteful of the talented actors involved. (Heyyyy, Peter Capaldi! Love you, man. And Ruth Negga and James Badge Dale. Ditto. You're cool. And Daniella Kertesz, who played Brad Pitt's Israeli soldier BFF. You rocked the shaved 'do and your plotline, so four for you, Daniella. You go, Daniella.)
Like I said on The Mary Sue, it didn't have to be mediocre. The original book didn't have a main character; it was told from the perspectives of lots of different people involved in different aspects of the zombie apocalypse. That sort of thing just won't fly in a massive-budget studio movie. You need a main character, someone who can be played by an A-list actor. I get that. I don't like that restriction, necessarily, but I understand it.
But did the main character have to be so boring? Some white dude with a mysterious badass pass who's the only savior for humanity and also has a family he has to—zzzzzz. Sorry. Welcome to Genericville, World War Z. Population: You.
The movie was at its best when it was most reminiscent of the book. Not in specific ways, because there really aren't any specific similarities that I can recall. I mean when the movie got into how different cities and governments coped with the zombie apocalypse, and how individual citizens—scientists, soldiers, kids—handled the grisly situation when it came to their doorstep. Those are the parts of the movie that I loved. Unfortunately, they were smothered underneath a bunch of Savior Brad Pitt bullshit.
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