9 Films That Completely Ignored Their Source (And Sucked Because Of It)
7. World War Z Removes All Commentary In Favour Of Action
As if the allure of zombies needed to be proven any more, the endless production delays, Damon Lindelof rewrites and Brad Pitts mullet didn't stop audiences going to see World War Z. Mooted to be the summers big flop, it ended up with a tasty profit and a sequel is on the way. Of course, that is just the allure of zombies. And World War Z is really an indistinguishable zombie film, a world away from Max Brooks's novel. Formed from various accounts from across the planet, compiled by a U.N. Officer, the book traces the spread and effect of the zombie virus. Spinning off from The Zombie Survival Guide, like any good zombie piece its less about running from the undead and more about commenting on the real world; Romero dealt with consumerism, but Brooks had a much wider eye set on global politics. In the film, all that really survived was the U.N. reporter, with the worldwide setting acting as little more than an excuse for interesting backgrounds (and Wales for some reason). It's the classic example of an interesting concept being neutered throughout the rewrites, emphasised by the brilliance of the novel.
