When the movie version of World War Z, the best-selling apocalyptic thriller by Max Brooks, was announced, millions of fans of the books became excited with anticipation as to just how the sprawling epic would translate to the big screen. Unfortunately for them, the production was beset with issues from start to finish, and by the time it hit the cinemas the end result bore little resemblance to the novel they admired. Brad Pitt stars as Gerry Lane, a UN investigator who must travel the globe in order to discover the root cause of a deadly outbreak which has turned humanity into zombies by the droves. Whereas the book was a collection of individual accounts, Hollywood needed a hero, and who better than Pitt to embody humanity's last hope? Naturally - this being a Brad Pitt starring vehicle - Gerry Lane manages to save the day, discovering a pathogen in a World Health Organisation laboratory which masks normal people from the infected, allowing them to fight back without fear of being bitten. The production woes of World War Z were a major factor in the neat and tidy ending audiences were given, but that's no excuse for the lazily tacked on ending in which Gerry is finally reunited with his family. Perhaps the disappointment at this happy ending was enhanced by our familiarity with the more miserable conclusions found in the zombie genre (which WWZ is in all but name), but with writer Damon Lindelof involved in the production, is it any wonder many of us were thoroughly disappointed?
