World War Z 
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mirelle Enos, Daniella Kertesz, Fana Mokoena, Matthew Fox, David Morse
Directed by: Marc Forster
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 116 mins
Genre: Action/ Drama/Horror
Opens June 21st
By Lisa Minzey of The Reel Critic.com
Opening this week is the zombie apocalypse film “World War Z” starring Brad Pitt, based on the graphic novel by Max Brooks. Will fans of the novel be impressed or disappointed by this big budget Hollywood film? Read on to find out.
Retired United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) has been enjoying life as a stay-at-home dad. When a deadly virus spreads like wildfire it's now up to Jerry to save his family and figure out the source of this disease. This disease can turn someone into a flesh eating zombie within 10 seconds. At the time of his retirement, Gerry was one of the top UN investigators who was sent to some of the most dangerous places on earth. Being pulled back into service by his previous employer, Gerry travels the world trying to locate the source of what started this disease. A few world governments had advanced notice of this disease before the pandemic broke out, so Gerry has to visit these places before to try to figure out how they knew why didn't tell people. With each new stop of investigation, Gerry learns more and more about the infection and what triggers the zombies to attack. Gerry is now in a race against time to help save the world and his family from being overcome by zombies. Can he do it or will he succumb to the disease himself?
For those expecting a gory, bloody zombie film, you may be disappointed in the lack of blood and guts that are spilled. Set up to be more of a psychological horror, the zombies are unlike what one would have seen in “The Walking Dead”, “Shaun of the Dead” or “28 Days Later”. What looks more like the setup of an elaborate video game, the zombies dogpile their way into places and are predatory cat-like in nature with their speed and prowess. It’s surprising that the quality of film so lackluster with a few heavy hitters in the film world behind the scenes. This script went through a few re-writes, but with names like Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods, Lost), Damon Lindelof (Lost, Star Trek Into Darkness) one would expect it to be more engaging. So is it the writing or the directing that was the problem or a perfect storm of conflicting circumstances? The characters are underdeveloped; the performances underwhelming and the storyline is rushed, not giving any room to really identify and care about the film. The special effects are pretty decent, especially in the wide shots showing the invasion but with such an enormous budget it’s a disappointment that the quality of content is so low. You be the judge when “World War Z” opens nationwide starting Friday June 21, 2013.
