Suvudu Universe

I also watched World War Z last night as a mini zombie marathon. I know it's been out for awhile, but I wanted to read the book first especially after how much I enjoyed Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide. Then I was told it didn't really follow the book at all, so I said what the hey when I saw it at the Redbox. Wow was it a perfect follow-up to The Walking Dead because the two were so much alike. Spoilers below( maybe it's my new thing)

I like how they got right into the zombie outbreak. They had a short set-up of the characters and then BOOM zombie outbreak. Brad Pitt's character was good. I really liked the scene where they showed his character see a guy get bitten and then turn in 10 seconds while Pitt was presumably counting the time in his head. This came back into play later when he killed one and it bled in his mouth. I loved how he ran to the ledge of the roof and counted to see if he was infected before going to join his family. What I didn't like about the outbreak scene was the fast zombies. I hate fast zombies, especially one that can jump, and if the book was an extension of Brooks' first one, then the zombies shouldn't have been able to do that. And more on the abilities of the zombies later.

The next part was also pretty good. Evacuating to an armada of battleships is a decent idea. The brass came up with a plan to try and solve the problem and they only allowed essential personal on the boat. I liked how they threatened to kick the family off the boat if Pitt didn't help them. So, obviously he did. One of my favorite scenes in the movie was the movie exchange between Pitt's character and the young virologist while on the plane to South Korea. He spoke like a true nerd with a passion for what he was doing which is what I think someone like him would do in a situation like that. I also liked how Pitt listened intently and remembered every part on the conversation and how that conversation became a key to the whole plague. Then the virologist slips and shoots himself in the head. At first I thought it was stupid, but then I was like I guess something like that could happen. I've complained in the past how accidents rarely happen in action flicks. So I became OK with it.

Korea was cool, especially David Morse's part, but how come a cell phone always has to go off whenever silence is required? On to Israel, which is the part of the movie that I absolutely hated. First off, rakshasa does not mean zombie or undead in Hindi or Sanskrit (the closest is a variant of the word, rakhosh, means one who eats incessantly without burden in Bengali). So, the whole point of building the wall is absurd. But hey you built it anyway, good for you. And there was a zombie outbreak? Double good for you. And you are letting healthy people in? That's very great and un-American of you.  So you built a giant wall between you and the zombies, what's next? Making sure things cant get over it? Nope. What would we do that? Prisons don't put barbed wire at the top of their fences or anything. Do we put some pikes up top pointing down to spear anything climbing up? Nope. Why would we do a thing like that? Do we build a walkway at the top so that our troops may patrol the wall and watch what's happening on the other side of the wall? Nope. Because history is full of successful armies that never et watched. We have a ton of soldier patrolling inside the wall and choppers all over, but not a single solder on top of the wall. WTF? Seriously? And how the hell did the build the damn thing before the outbreak without a single news station or spy satellite seeing them do it? And why did the noise that was presumably made every day all of a sudden attract all the zombies at the time that Brad Pitt's character was there? (This is what I meant about being a perfect follow-up to The Walking Dead. Some really good film entertainment spoiled by some dumbass shit.) Despite all that crap, Pitt made it out, with a one-handed Israeli soldier, and onto a plane. Then he get the plane redirected to where he needs to go. Then the trip from Israel to Wales is uneventful until a zombie pops up out nowhere right before they land. And then the plane crashes. The noise from a microphone in Jerusalem draws thousands of zombies, but a plane crashing in Wales doesn't draw a single one? More absurdity. And back on the battleship Pitt's characters family get the boot because he died in the line of duty instead of completing his mission. That's how Americans treat people.

Well, Brad's in Wales, where he wants to be because he followed the breadcrumbs mother nature left and he thinks he has a cure, or at least a camouflage. I saw the end coming, but right before it happened so I won't have a hissy-fit like most people who watch an M. Night Shyamalan movie and claim they saw the twist coming because it happened to be one of about twenty they blurted out throughout the duration of the movie. It was a new take on the zombie outbreak mythos. It's normally zombies an insatiable hunger so they just want to feed. This was about a virus that was looking for a healthy host to spread. Also a bit of a stretch because it turns the host into the undead so why does it have to be healthy in the first place? I don't know but it was a way to wrap up the movie and mother nature doesn't always make sense. I guess I liked the movie overall, but I think I would have sang my love for it from the rafters if they had just left out the whole Israel part, or just made the Israeli military a little smarter.