1. The Battle Of Yonkers
If theres one thing the World War Z film doesnt lack, its set-pieces. From the opening everybody-run-from-the-horde scene to the zombies climbing the Israeli walls and the superbly tense Cardiff laboratory sequence, the main highlights of the film dont disappoint. Its a rare film which chooses to blow up a plane in mid-air and have the main character survive it, but World War Z has the balls to get away with it. Yet really, there was always one major set-piece that was missing for me the Battle of Yonkers, pretty much the signature set-piece of the book both in terms of scale and meaning. The US armys overconfident stand against the zombies showcased like nothing else that conventional war didnt work against the onrushing hordes, simultaneously scattering the army and forcing a rethink of strategy. Its a major turning point in the book yet the film just drops it completely. Admittedly what they replace it with is pretty cool, but taking one of the definitive scenes out of the film adaptation is a strange decision, in my eyes. Maybe it was just a choice of tone the Battle of Yonkers is brimming with satire about the mindset of the American army, yet the film chose play all the carnage relatively straight. Its a bit disappointing really what usually escalates a summer blockbuster is some sort of subtext (think The Dark Knight and the Patriot Act), and hypothetically, World War Z was no different. Yet when presented with this choice to cash in its chips and ride that horse all the way to good reviews (to mangle two metaphors), it chose not to. Its an odd decision, and it stops a good film from being a great one. Agree or disagree? feel free to comment!