WORLD WAR Z
Cast: Brad Pitt, Anthony Mackie, James Badge Dale, Bryan Cranston, David Morse
Director: Marc Foster
Running time: 116 mins.
Director Marc Forster (last notable outing being “Quantum of Solace”) disposes of just about all the elements from Max Brooks’ original novel and refits the tale into a singular narrative, with leading man Brad Pitt racing around the world in as little time as possible. World War Z could actually have been a top-class high-octane action thriller but instead it’s simply a film full of unfulfilled promise.
Apparently in a concerted effort not to offend the huge potential Chinese market, the source of the outbreak which is the core of the picture was relocated to South Korea. Also Glasgow stars in the opening sequence, bizarrely standing in for Philadelphia, and surprisingly coming up trumps, which as a native of this supreme city, I am delighted to report.
WWZ actually begins brilliantly (and credit must go to the aforementioned city’s George Square area) as protagonist Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family are happily having breakfast. Everything is idyllic in their world which as sure as tomorrow’s on the way can only mean one thing – disaster is a certainty to come knocking very soon. As the Lanes drive off into the city, the film cuts to a spectacular segment of chaos and anarchy, peppered with genuinely tense and thrilling sequences, while the danger and scenario are both immediate but well-concealed.
However World War Z stinks of rewrites and test screenings and this is painfully obvious when this thrilling part of the film is over. No proper elements from the novel can be found in the whole piece, as unlike the book, the remainder of the film is just a collection of scattered and horrifying short tales from around the globe. World War Z's globe-trotting is trite and condensed into mind-numbing brevity where Pitt’s character seems to spend in some locations merely minutes, others barely an hour, as he dashes from place to place destroying everything but himself along the way. He is looking for clues to the virus' origin so they can find the source and put a stop to it.
The film of WWZee (although it will be WWZed in the UK) is a tonally different story to that of the novel, with its emphasis on conflict, survival and actual war with the undead/zombies.
Brad Pitt does his best and carries the film with a fractured heroic performance, but everybody he meets on the way may as well be cardboard cutouts he briefly contacts, before moving to his next destination.
The South Korean segment is particularly offensive not only to the source material, but to human intelligence in general. As soon as he gets there, a crazed CIA officer happens to be at the same spot and feels the need to provide the next plot point in the most obtuse way possible. Seconds later he’s in Israel - a city surrounded by walls and it has pre-empted the zombie apocalypse due to a note from an esteemed general in the desert and the peace is kept as the hordes of millions gather outside.
The city carries on its hustle and bustle, refugees file in through protective fences as helicopters buzz around and yet as soon as Brad turns up, like a horrible curse, people inexplicably start singing from two loud speakers near the gate. This of course kicks all logic and science into oblivion as the entire zombie force clambers on top of one another and quickly ascends the wall. Utter, total tosh as yet again some CGI numpty has dispensed with any consideration as to the intellect of the cinema audience.
The faceless horror of the plague is a far more effective source of fear than close-ups of corpses, however this idea isn’t portrayed long enough to have any impact - unlike the book in which they literally rose up from the ocean floors – which was potentially a mesmerising visual possibility that is abandoned by the film version.
Throughout his unbelievable ordeals, ‘Gerry’ tries to make contact with his family, but by this stage they are also merely a plot point and act to hinder him in foolish ways, while his children have all but disappeared from the film. Other characters and captions explain what is going on, when it is already painfully obvious, but this is the kind of film that assumes the audience are morons. Needless to say WWZ reaches a satisfactory conclusion, but by this point the irrevocable damage has been done.
HUMMINGBIRD
Cast: Jason Statham, Agata Buzek, Ger Ryan,
Benedict Wong
Writer/Director: Steven Knight
Running time: 1hr 40mins
Writer/Director: Steven Knight
Running time: 1hr 40mins
Jason Statham plays Joey Jones, back from a tortuous spell in the Afghanistan conflict and now alcohol-dependent and homeless. Following a serious attack on him in a sleazy London alleyway, he loses contact with his street-pals as he breaks into a swish designer pad, where he sorts himself out, physically, financially and part-emotionally. In amongst the absent inhabitant’s mail he finds a new credit card and p.i.n. which he promptly makes invaluable use of.
Before long Joey is grafting in a Chinese restaurant kitchen, where following his removal from said premises of some oik-laddish idiots, his fighting skills catch the eye of the Chinese Triad bosses, who are involved in a drug smuggling operation and are in need of a tough guy – cue our Jason… As Joey starts trousering the readies, his kind hearted side allows him to donate a hefty wad to Sister Cristina – a nun who fed him soup and encouragement during his homeless period. Gradually our man slips into the criminal underworld in order to find out what happened to an old pal on the street, who died in mysterious circumstances, and more importantly who was responsible.
There’s a not-to-be sniffed at, highly respectable dramatic performance on show here by Jason Statham, matched ably by Polish actress, Agata Buzek and the story by writer and first-time director Steven Knight is engaging and intriguing, along with cinematography by the peerless Chris Menges. The twist in the tale comes from the romantic flirtations between the Joey the thug and Cristina the nun which are beautifully observed.
It’s encouraging at last to see Statham in a role that isn't requiring him to be a snarky idiot, as here he’s involved in something that's not just a variation on the same fast-driving, taciturn, semi-romantic bruiser that he's come to be known for over the last decade. There are a few moments of action, mostly altercations that lead to some quite brutal melees, but this time out – there’s thankfully not enough to sate those looking for a standard Statham violence-vehicle.
