Attempts to tell a tale of zombie apocalypse on a global scale. Accordingly the trappings of zombie cinema; FX work, carnage and peril are all impressively amplified to suit. Unfortunately the cliche, idiocy and lazy plotting often found in zombie cinema is also amplified, which is less impressive.
An adaptation of the book in the same way pirates of the Caribbean was an adaptation of the ride, in title only. Having never read the book I saw a gripping thriller that followed a hastily assembled mission to find a solution while the world fell apart. I really liked it.
ReplyDeleteIf you've never read the book, how can you know it's an adaptation in title only? ;-D
DeleteOff to see this one with Ali on Thursday now.
I'm aware the book, or at least some of, is a series of vignettes of people recounting how they learnt to survive. The film is not. Its about brad Pitt trying to trace the source and I've read in multiple articles his character is not in the book at all. There was also the amount of times Al said "in the book" and then described something that was thematically different to the film. And in an interview Max brooks has said they've only really used his title. So, guess work ;)
DeleteThe comparison to pirates is more of a guess, but I'm assuming there's the odd nod to incidents in the book in the way the pirates on the Disney ride make fleeting appearances in the movie.
I think if you want the book you'll be disappointed. Maybe not having that as baggage helped my enjoyment coz I really did like it a lot.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jun/19/interview-max-brooks/
ReplyDeleteInteresting article for the comparison with source material - sounds like some typical Hollywoodization taking place.
DeleteI was a bit confused on the pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney. Jack Sparrow was all over the joint, but was Johnny Depp made up to look like him or was he retconned into the ride after the movie's release.
ReplyDeleteIt was ok. Preferred It's a Small World After All
Jack sparrow was an invention for the film. After it's success they updated the pirates ride to reflect the film. The 3 prisoners in a cell reaching to get the key from a dog was part of the original ride and in the movie. And I think some drunks in tatuga.
DeleteI also preferred It's A Small World After All to World War Z.
DeleteThought this was entertaining enough. Certainly had the genre cliches going strong with some dodgy science (how exactly do the zombies detect the presence of terminal illness in people) and dodgy physics (if you blew a hole in a plane at that height a seatbelt would NOT hold you in place), but the some of the visuals were hugely impressive - the zombie siege on Jerusalem for instance.
ReplyDeleteIt does annoy me that these films always end up with the hero being reunited with his estranged family despite the odds though - War of the Worlds has an even less likely reunion at the end.
Never heard of It's A Small World After All.
Here's interesting, the entire third act was abandoned during shooting, rescripted and reshot. The original ending was far bleaker:
Deletehttp://www.movies.com/movie-news/world-war-z-original-ending/12638
But not as bleak as having to sit through this though.
Fascinating: an entirely different film - is it normal that a rescript would represent a complete sea change like that? I would've expected it to be a process of refinement.
DeleteThe bleak ending in Hollywood movies has several precedents. The Mist still ranks as my favourite though!
I thoroughly enjoyed this and left the cinema a happy punter.
ReplyDeleteI found myself believing in the world it created and then it fairly zipped along. The tension was sufficient to grip me and prevent my brain from interfering with thoughts of plot holes or comparisons with the (well worth reading) book.
The fast zombie set pieces were good, the mass zombie piles were good, the slow, creeping around zombie bit was good, even the family drama and 'feelings' bits were handled believably.
The World War Z book is stuffed with material that could have been used to make great movie moments, but I'm not fussed that all we had here was the basic premise of a world zombie outbreak.
I also admired it for taking itself seriously and not descending into b-movie territory.
That's the movie I saw.
DeleteI'm with Ali and James on this. I really liked it, especially the sense of scale and speed. Set pieces were great, the pacing kept everything ticking along and it used the source material with respect to make a Hollywood action movie. Rather like Wicky Wicky Will Smith's I Robot, which i liked but few others did (asimov AND Will Smith? I had no chance...)
DeleteAlso nice to see Glasgow's George Square overrun by properly scary zombies, and Peter capaldi as the worst person to wake up to while strapped to a gurney "are you a zombie? It's a simple question cuntybaws, are you a fuckin' zombie"
Have you changed your mind in the space of 4 days Joe? You said it was OK before ;-)
DeleteI was referring to the pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney! Just saw world war z today
ReplyDelete