Difficult is the task of ridding yourself of previous knowledge of a printed novel before venturing into its screen adaptation. Not as taxing, however, with Marc Forster's adaptation of the best-selling Max Brooks novel of the same name. Stranger Than Fiction [2006] is one of my favourite films of the past ten years and I was interested to see how this zombie horror would translate onto the big screen. I had a lot of unrealised faith in Forster before I had started, having thoroughly enjoyed Finding Neverland [2004] and Quantum Of Solace [2008] - a Bond flick that I found emotionally taxing on our spy hero compared to most reviewers' opinions on it being a weak entry in the series.
After a harrowing look at the current nihilistic state of the world interspersed with ravenous animals in the opening credits we are invited to the home of the Lanes (Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos). Brad Pitt takes the lead role of Gerry Lane, a former UN employee - his exact job description never revealed but hinted at as being in the field in some manner - who is now a stay-at-home father to watch his children grow up. The casting here distracted me from paying attention to the story, Brad Pitt just doesn't look like he has aged. Maybe a little tired around the eyes, but Mireille's casting makes him look a lot younger than he is depicted. That's not a negative remark on Mireille's age whatsoever, but Pitt does look somewhat of a toyboy.
In no less than ten minutes, all hell breaks loose on the streets of Philadelphia and reveals a few of my favourite moments during a city wide state of chaos. The twisting, writhing and snapping body of an infected body with the resonating countdown timer of a child's toy is one of the most beautifully shot moment of live zombification. There is mass confusion, the frenzied running of panicked citizens blurs who is infected and who isn't. Panic turns to a selfish and ravenous fight for survival. Not even the police gather for survival as one ignores Gerry having just shot his wife's would-be rapist going straight for baby supplies.
It's in this first half an hour until the Lanes' rescue by a former UN colleague do we witness the loss of family, loss of mind and loss of order. We gain hints too, very subtle ones, as to how the infected choose their next victims. It's also after this mark that we realise Pitt is playing the invincible hero. There are plenty of moments throughout where he is the sole survivor of a moment where refuelling a military cargo plane goes wrong, an actual plane crash and even after taking a dose of several diseases. During these escapades, I had begun to lose interest in Gerry and his family and focussed more on the frantic portrayal of the zombies. The very word scoffed at during an early UN meeting. Gerry's mission here is to find out where the infection came from and how to stop it - naturally. But the genius member of his team is quickly dispatched having slipped on a wet surface and shooting himself. A real waste of Elyse Gabel's promising part to play.
With his lead dead, Gerry then sets it even more upon himself to globetrot and find out how the infection can be stopped, collapsing a secure Jerusalem along the way. I first scoffed when I saw the piling zombies clambering up the walls of Jerusalem but they really do terrifying when they flood, trip and tumble like a sea of hungry mouths filling the streets. There was a rather unnecessary CGI zombie that sniffs around the outside of the wall before taking the lead of the undead army. It resembled a bad caricature of the Crypt Keeper or Iron Maiden's Eddie.
Personal acting favourites Pete Capaldi and Moritz Bleibtreu (Run Lola Run, Das Experiment) turn up during the third act where the colour palette pales to a 28 Days Later damp as our indestructible hero crash-lands in Wales. There is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Matthew Fox cameo almost as a US Navy Seal before he disappears into the credit list, which I found rather baffling considering his fantastic portrayal in 2008's Vantage Point. One explosive plane crash a la Flight Of The Dead later and the unveiling of the infection's tactical targeting is revealed as a delightful shock. The pre-ending credits sequence gives us snapshots of humanity fighting back around the world, featuring homemade armour worn by Russians; a brief moment that I feel could have been taken on as a bigger sequence as opposed to the hefty worn-out dreary Welsh section.
By the end, the Max Brooks' source material is a forgotten memory as there is enough in World War Z to keep viewers entertained. It is not the best zombie film out there, but it is certainly the most imaginative in its execution.
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