Review Of World War Z

Review Of World War Z

The story is necessarily altered from the book but keeps its essence and political ideas. The film centres around Brad Pitt’s Gerry and his family, who are first affected by the zombies in Philadelphia before reaching Newark and then being picked up by the UN who need Gerry’s investigating skills to attempt to track down the source of the virus- or Patient Zero. This leads him on a dangerous mission to several different countries as we learn more and more about the worldwide threat. The film made the essential change to focusing on one group of characters rather than those involved around the world to make it an easier story to follow and to care about: in that way it actually improves on the book, whose interview style begins to feel disconnected and hard to care about halfway through.

The political nature of the book was retained in a subtle yet important way: from the opening credits, with news reports of health and the environment juxtaposed against haunting images, to the inclusion of Israel’s hastily built wall and how easily such a cocoon can be broken, there are many suggestions of how such a crisis could be our fault and how international politics don’t help matters that make this go beyond the surface more than the average summer blockbuster.