Director: Marc Forster
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, David Morse
Running Time: 116 minutes
Synopsis: A virus-caused zombie outbreak devastates the globe. Retired United Nations researcher Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is evacuated from New Jersey with his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and two daughters. They land on a US Navy vessel in the mid-Atlantic, where Gerry's former boss Thierry assigns him the responsibility of tracking down the virus origins. With most of the world's major cities being overrun by zombie hordes, Gerry's mission will be perilous.
What Works Well: This adaptation of the Max Brooks novel is more about action and large-scale devastation, and less about horror and gore. Director Marc Foster keeps the energy level elevated as Gerry embarks on a perilous globe-trotting adventure. Four breathless set-pieces dominate the running time, located in New York/New Jersey (chaotic), then South Korea (more suspenseful), followed by Israel (hordes amok, including on a plane), and finally at a World Health Organization facility in Wales. Leading a rather bland cast, Brad Pitt dominates with quiet bravado.
What Does Not Work As Well: The science, politics, personal stories, and Gerry's family dynamics are all just sketched-in and eventually reduced to afterthoughts. The disjointed script lacks zing, and while the final act is well executed, it is also misdirected, defaulting to a prolonged skulking-around exercise that saps narrative momentum.
Key Quote:
Gerry: Movement is life.
All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We welcome reader comments about this post.