Former UN investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is called in to find the source of the zombie plague that has overrun the world.  His family (wife and two daughters) are safe aboard a naval ship while Gerry’s investigation takes him to South Korea and Jerusalem (Israel) as he searches for the source so a cure can be put together to stop the spread of the infection.

WORLD WAR Z started as a book written by Max Brooks which Brad Pitt’s Plan B saw as a book to adapt into a movie (or even a trilogy).  It had a troubled production which resulted in Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard writing a new third act which resulted in about 30 to 40 minutes ending up on the cutting room floor including the Battle of Moscow (which only a few seconds of it is seen in the climax now).  The first two thirds is an intense action thriller before switching to a drama with moments of tension.  Marc Forster does a good job directing WORLD WAR Z and Brad Pitt brings in a competent performance as Gerry (even if it isn’t spectacular) where he does enough to sell you on the guy who wants to get the job done and keep his family safe.

WORLD WAR Z is the type of movie you need the big scale to show what a zombie pandemic would do to the world and how it would be approached.  It makes me want to track down the book and read it.   I wonder if the film will make enough money to greenlight a sequel (but I hope thyme have a finished script without having to go back and spend $50 million to shoot a new third act) as it will have to make over $400 million to break even on the $200 million budget (and that doesn’t even factor in the money spent to promote it).  I enjoyed WORLD WAR Z even though the third act is different from the first two third’s action thriller drive.  You could argue on one hand the third act is necessary to bring a resolution to Gerry’s quest and open the door for a sequel while it does seem a little out of place to the pacing set by the film in the first 90 minutes.  I want to see the movie again, but I am more curious on what extras will show on the blu-ray (hopefully the original third act in the deleted scenes or an alternate cut option to show how the movie was originally cut together).  WORLD WAR Z will make some money, but it remains to be seen if enough will be made to convince Paramount to make a sequel.   It is a good action thriller which has a quieter third act which does fit with how the film’s logic works even though you will have to get past some of the obvious clichés written in to drive the movie’s plot at times.   Go see WORLD WAR Z so a sequel can get made.

This blu-ray review is (c)6-23-2013 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

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