“World War Z” has what it takes to be one of the most exciting zombie movies to come out in years. Where the standard zombie film has blood and gore in place of characters and sometimes even plot, “World War Z” manages-for almost the first time since “28 Days Later”-to bring real excitement and adventure to the genre. Real suspense and authentic terror leap out from every corner of this film, and it’s worth it to take a close look at the makings of the film, if only to encourage other filmmakers to follow the fine example that’s finally been laid out for mainstream audiences.
“World War Z” brilliantly takes the form of first-person accounts from the survivors of the global zombie war. It follows the stories of a number of the survivors, told approximately one decade after the fighting from a productively high number of different angles and backgrounds. In the manner of the gospels, “World War Z” recreates an epic world-shaking series of events through the eyes of witnesses rather than taking the form of an official history. This is a surprising and highly inventive mode of storytelling that practically writes itself. Frankly, while it’s tempting to heap praise on the makers of the movie, the narrative voice chosen all but guarantees the audience a brilliant round of immersive storytelling.
The film is adapted from a 2006 book by Max Brooks. It was always intended as the sequel to his wildly successful “The Zombie Survival Guide.” Tying these two works together in print might have been a bit of a chore for the author, but with no antecedents and a clean slate on which to draw, “World War Z” has been liberated to find its own voice and tell the story its own way.
The movie tells the story in the largest way a major motion picture can manage. Every single element of this movie comes together to create a totally immersive reality in which zombie uprising goes from freak occurrence to routine challenge so quickly the audience hardly has time to sharpen its disbelief before suspending it for the sake of a roller coaster ride through the apocalypse.
None of this is to say it’s been smooth sailing for the production. Plan B, Brad Pitt’s production company, began shooting the film early in the summer of 2011 and was originally planning a release date sometime in December 2012. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, so the planned release was pushed back by a full six months while the movie’s third act was rewritten by Damon Lindelof and reshot prior to its June 2 release.
It’s difficult to say what the unspecified problems might have been. Plan B is an experienced production company, just as Brad Pitt is an experienced actor and filmmaker. The movie’s budget doesn’t seem to have been at issue as the full $125 million was made available as early as 2011. It’s possible the revisions are the result of test audience reactions, but it’s just as likely “World War Z” has just come down with a case of the “28 Days Later” bug. That’s to say, “28 Days Later” was such a massive success, and so productive were the early drafts of the script, the makers were just plain stumped for the right way to end it. No fewer than three separate endings were proposed, largely because the genre is so rich that as soon as one ending is chosen and shot, another even better idea occurs to somebody in the writers’ room, whereupon that idea has to be tried out, and so on.
This kind of bubbling creativity is very far from a handicap in a major artistic undertaking. Far from suggesting trouble, it suggests very strongly there are just too many great ideas attached to the film to squeeze into a single movie. One can be forgiven for hoping this signals a trend toward sequels for the “World War Z” franchise. With smart, precise dialogue, snappy action sequences, and a sharp, incisive wit that’s not afraid to be turned on modern institutions and sacred cows, zombie movies in general-and “World War Z” in particular-have much to offer the culture in terms of social commentary. They also have more than a few things to offer in terms of awesome explosions and helicopter chase scenes. Either way, it’s to be hoped that “World War Z” isn’t a stand-alone project that never sees a follow up, but rather the dawn of a new age of creative zombie flicks.