sracer

KC is right on this. Those scenes were cut so quickly and so blurred it was impossible to see what was going on. It was a cheap effect.



Sorry, but that's what happens when you name a movie after a book. The film was so unlike the book that they could've called it "Mr. and Mrs. Z" and nobody would've been comparing it to the book... but then again, there wouldn't be as much interest in the film either. That's the price you pay... gain interest based on the name recognition, the price is being compared to that name.



I believe it IS proof that big-budget zombie films can't work (in the way that fans of the genre perceive). There are things inherent in big budgets that force film makers to make decisions that small/no budget filmmakers don't need to consider.

The bigger the budget, the more mass appeal it needs in order to turn a profit. The original DAWN OF THE DEAD was unrated when it was released (otherwise it would've been given an X rating). How much would WWZ take in and how many theaters would it be shown in if it had an NC-17 or unrated? Even a "mild" R rating would've been a turn-off for many who would be attracted to the film otherwise.

The perception:
"Zombie film" + "R rating" = lots of gore

My wife and daughter are no horror fans. My wife has warmed up to THE WALKING DEAD because of the characters and lack of emphasis on blood and guts. They both want to see WWZ. Not because of Brad Pitt (they're not fans), but it is an action film and the PG-13 rating indicates that there isn't going to be a tidal wave of blood and guts.

WWZ may "work" as a zombie/infected film that is accessible to more people.

I thought it was an enjoyable film. 28 DAYS certainly did a "better" job in telling the infection story, but it was definitely more intense too. Even though it was unoriginal... a simple re-imagining of DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS.


I'm looking forward to a WWZ DVD release that contains original footage that doesn't appear in the theatrical release.


LOL

DJLinus

Then missing the turned dad is on me.

Preacher

Full agreement.

dvdjunkie32

I recognized him clearly, but I had seen that particular part many times from the trailer.

OldBoy

lousy, just lousy. nothing at all clicked for me. Pitt was solid as usual though.

onebyone

I missed it too.

I thought it was good enough, but certainly not great. It was kind of frustrating, you can tell they were aiming fore more, but came up short. I am glad I saw it once, but can't see watching it again.

That said, I would give a sequel a chance.

Jon2

Saw WWZ this afternoon. Fun and enjoyable, but nothing to write home about. For the life of me, I can't see where $200 million went.

DJariya

I saw this today and for the most part I enjoyed it.

I'd give it a B or B-.

As far as the action and violence goes, I thought it felt a little too watered down for a big screen zombie movie. The Walking Dead IMO had much more grotesque and violent scenes.

I thought the two best sequences were in Israel and the plane flight to the UK. Those were pretty spectacular.

at those Israeli people celebrating and singing songs too loud which caused the city to go into chaos and ruins shortly afterwards.

Not sure how the sequel would work. So Gerry and the UN still need figure a way to go to India to find out where the origin of the infection came from?

Overall, it was a pretty entertaining film. The 2 hours went by fast and I thought Pitt was a good lead.

jfoobar

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/wwz

TGM

another difference, the movie was entertaining, and the book was boring as fuck.

jfoobar

Pretty sure you are almost alone on this one. The book has its flaws, but "boring" was not at all one of them.

Osiris3657

Edited for truth

TGM

Oh, I sludged through it.

It read like a textbook to me, and a poorly written one at that.

Sorry for having an opinion.

Mr. Salty

I agree with jfoobar and Osiris. Also, fucking isn't boring.

Unclejosh

I found it boring as well. The book, not the movie which I havent seen yet. I dislike all oral history/interview/diary style books though.

Rob V

Read a lot of diaries, do ya? I can see if one or two stories were boring... but not the collection as a whole.

Deftones

As I'm watching this, all i can think of is that it reminded me of Sodebergh's movie Contagion, only with a shit ton more action. It was moderately entertaining, but nothing fantastic. I will give them credit, I don't think I once looked at the time because the movie seemed to fly by.

Also, did anyone know what country got nuked? Seemed like it would be somewhere in Asia/Middle East/Europe as that was the direction he was traveling in.

gmanca

I really enjoyed this; yes there were faults but I thought overall movie played smart, your Contagion analogy is pretty spot on Deftones. The fact that it lingered on some items is because the action plays so fast you could miss out on how the ending develops; it would easily be seen as a deux-ex-machina plot device if it didn't.

I can see the technical/storytelling switch they made to the ending because it did jar a little between the close quarters stuff vs the openness of the first two-thirds of the film. One thing I didn't like was the throwaway line of how not to kill them because it makes them more aggressive, that was a weak plot device.

Looking forward to a sequel, which should definitely use the aspect of the original ending to show how man has changed after making the game tied.

JumpCutz

This was pretty awful. I haven't read the book, but I couldn't wait for this to end. Guess I've had my fill of run of the mill action movies. I went in hoping to be engaged, alas... I have only myself to blame, as these type of things are obviously not my cup of tea.

2/5.

ivelostr2

I just saw this with some family on the last rainy night of our vacation...having never read the book, none of us had any expectations and therefore enjoyed the movie as a solid, entertaining popcorn flick.

Coming here, and reading some of the hate for the movie makes me want to read the book now.

Artman

Ya know I didn't think this was half bad.(no knowledge of the book) It clipped along well enough, I liked most of the actors/characters...solid B. It probably would have been more intense with some R rated violence, but it still had some jumps in there. (a loud theater helps) Glad to see it's not a bomb and may get a sequel.

Finisher

It's hard to mess up zombies. This one was pretty basic, all avoid and survive. Paper thin story. Minimal characterization. Literally all we need to care about is one family and not a single fuck is given about any of them. Couple of the action pieces did work no thanks to Marc Forster, who shoots action in a disorienting and annoying fashion. Wonder how much Damon Lindelof was paid to not add anything of value to yet another script.

RocShemp

That original ending sounds awful. I wonder how far along they got filming it before they realized it deserved to be scrapped.

Preacher

Well said.

Osiris3657

Well I saw it so I wouldn't be called a hypocrite for crushing a movie I haven't seen. Needless to say I had low expectations going in. Was it better than I thought it'd be? Sure, but that's faint praise. At least it wasn't boring and Pitt was good.
Some other general thoughts:

-that CGI was just pitiful. What effects studio worked on this? The same terrible team that did "I Am Legend"? I've seen CGI from the 90's that were better than this.
-"superhuman" zombies that can run extremely fast (except when chasing Brad Pitt and crew), can jump insanely high, and have superhuman strength suck. I don't like it. I don't want to hear the argument that slow zombies are "boring". If you're a good director, you can make an exciting and tension filled zombie movie with traditional zombies.
-Zombie movies need to be violent. There needs to be blood and gore. It's just part of the zombie mystique.
-The plane crash. Gerry not only survives that brutal crash, but he just so happens to crash within WALKING distance of the world health organization facility? How the hell did he even know where he was and which way to go? And then he has the big piece of shrapnel that impaled him removed and he's just fine hours after? Such lazy writing.
-the clicking of the teeth by the zombies was really, really lame.

If this movie weren't associated with the book I'd describe it as an entertaining but by the numbers action movie....but because it IS associated with the book, it's not good. A much better movie (or rather ideally, a television series through HBO) could have been made based on the source material.

Grade: C-