I’ll
level with you: I don’t do well with
zombies. It’s the infection angle, the
idea that, if I were bitten by a zombie, there’d be nothing I could do to
prevent myself trying to infect other people around me, including the people I
love. Even with vampirism, those who are
turned usually maintain at least a modicum of agency. But if I were a zombie, I would be able to
help it. This is the reason that,
despite numerous recommendations from respected sources, I still haven’t read
the book this film is based on or seen The
Walking Dead. Heck, I haven’t even
seen the comedies like Warm Bodies, Shaun of the Dead, or Zombieland!
World War Z is of course the big blockbuster
zombie-apocalypse movie from this past summer, in which Brad Pitt plays a
stalwart father/ex-UN ninja who’s pulled from retirement to find a solution to
the plague. That focus, I suppose, makes
it nominally better than the usual zombie fare, where the entire cast gradually
succumbs and it takes people forever
to figure out that it’s spread through the bites. At any rate, I could watch it without any
major scarring, although I’ll admit to multitasking through most of the non-PC
parts.
It
takes a long time to get to PC, but his sequence is one of the best parts of
the film in my biased opinion. He plays
a doctor for the World Health Organization, and if you’ve spent any time on
PC’s IMDb page or poked your head into the Who
fandom since August, you know that his character is amusingly labeled “W.H.O.
Doctor.” Now that that’s taken care of,
let’s move on.
It’s a
nice performance, well characterized despite a general lack of attention. The doctor is exhausted and frightened, at
his wit’s end, but he’s still clever and resourceful. Willing to entertain out-there ideas, he’s
instrumental in helping our hero on his mission. Definitely someone worth having around in a
zombie apocalypse.
Lastly,
a few nitpicks. First, fast-moving
zombies are like vampires who don’t burn in the sunlight – from a storytelling
perspective, it’s just cheating. Also,
the longest incubation period for anyone in this movie is ten minutes (and
nigh-instantaneous is more likely.) So
how in the world did this thing
manage to cross oceans? Who lets a zombie on a plane?
Accent Watch
Scottish.
Recommend?
In
General
– Maybe, if you’re a zombie fan. The
nitpicks listed above are annoying, but it’s a different, decently-made, take on
the genre.
PC-wise – Possibly. Despite the limited screentime and the long
wait, PC does an effective job.
Warnings
Some
swearing, and oodles of zombie violence, though there’s nothing especially
gruesome.
* * *
Sorry for the lack of update yesterday. After Saturday's festivities, I was in a Whovian stupor. Like so:
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