To be totally honest, I had my doubts that anyone would be able to adapt the groundbreaking novel World War Z into an acceptable film. The book was an anthology of anecdotes that detailed the zombie apocalypse from a variety of different perspectives, so it's understandable that it would be difficult to create a single linear storyline. But if it was that difficult, then they should have just let it remain an awesome novel, because the film called World War Z bears little to no resemblance to the book. It's basically just a generic zombie film using the title of a bestselling work of fiction to put butts in seats. The movie isn't terrible, I guess, but it's not great either. I guess the major problem is that there's so much zombie stuff out there right now, and this one doesn't distinguish itself in a positive manner. Mostly I just regret the fact that they couldn't manage to turn one of my favorite books into a serviceable film. It was more than just a zombie story, it was social commentary. It could have been amazing, if they had put any thought into it, but they just decided to cast Brad Pitt and hope that would be good enough.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
