It is then that the "zombie" buzz word becomes the label for what they are up against. In return for ensuring his family's safety, Gerry is enlisted by Thierry to take to the field to investigate the few leads they have to finding this plague/virus's source. The remaining military and governmental brain trust has gathered on a flotilla of naval vessels off the Atlantic coast. boss Thierry (Fana Mokoena of Hotel Rwanda).
#WORLD WAR Z FILMS SKIN#
Gerry and his family thrillingly escape Philadelphia, and later Newark, by the skin of their teeth thanks to the assistance of his old U.N. That all changes when a wild epidemic of infected and maddening murderous humans overpowers the civilians and military in major cities around the world.
Behind the paternal exterior, Gerry is a retired United Nations investigator who has put the days of chasing war crimes in the world's worst hotbeds behind him. By raising the cinematic stakes to a global level, though extremely far short of the original novel's worldly depth, Wor ld War Z is a spectacular success to push the potential of this genre and fad forward with a flashy and exciting summer blockbuster.ĭirector Marc Forster ( Finding Neverland, Monster's Ball, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace) introduces us to Gerry Lane, played by Brad Pitt (who's also sticking his financial neck out as a producer on the flick), a doting father of two lovely daughters and husband to Karin (Mireille Enos of HBO's Big Love). World War Z, in all its big summer action splendor, brings the zombie fad to a bigger stage than anything Romero envisioned 45 years ago with Night of the Living Dead. W orld War Z gives this cultural epidemic of lifelessness a big boost of life-giving excitement. Time will tell, but I see the latter of those two scenarios happening. World War Z will either be the saturated peak of excess before the trend's inevitable downfall or the newest tipping point and springboard to bigger and better things for the zombie craze.
The success or failure of this blockbuster will determine the next course for this fad. This is the mainstream, a week after Man of Steel, up against Pixar's Monsters University, and a week before the big Fourth of July weekend. Zombies has never been on a bigger stage than this. In that Warm Bodies review, I stated that the biggest litmus test for this zombie fad would come with the blockbuster action drama World War Z. The show has gained a greater-than-cult popularity with every season. The steadiest brainy meal for the zombie-lovers diet has been AMC's The Walking Dead on cable television. It's been a slow build-up from multiple George Romero remakes to blockbusters like I Am Legend over the years, but zombies have hit their mark. Back in February, while reviewing the enjoyable zombie romance Warm Bodies , I started to outline the pop culture fad that zombies have become over the last decade or so, thanks to the horror sub-genre's unprecedented success in film, television, and print media.