10 November 2012
Yet another "zoombie" movie
This is the official trailer for World War Z, based on the book of the same name. I suppose one reason zombie movies have become so extremely popular because they are the only "ethnic" group that it's now politically acceptable to slaughter and maim.
While writing this up, I learned that "zoombie" is the colloquial term used to refer to movie zombies who can run/climb/jump at superhuman speed (unlike the shambling gait of the traditional undead).
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It's a pity the filmmakers appear to have ignored the source material in favour of making yet another run-of-the-mill zombie apocalypse movie :(
ReplyDeleteI read a comment somewhere that they paid the royalty money for the privilege of using the title, not the plot and context.
DeleteThe book was a fun read, written by Mel Brooks' son, Max. Max also wrote the Zombie Survival Guide, which was funny.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually kind of looking forward to seeing this movie, if it's at all like the book. Something tells me I'll be disappointed. The books reads like a set of memoirs from various people in different parts of the world during a microorganism-based Zombie outbreak that quickly engulfs the planet. I can't see how that would translate directly to the big screen.
Anyway, the trailer makes it look like they threw out the books premise entirely and kept the back story only.
Yes, I'm another person who really liked the book and thinks this looks terrible. The subtitle of the book is "An Oral History of the Zombie War," and that's just what it is -- a completely global perspective, from many points of view, that's pretty much the opposite of the standard hero-driven disaster/horror movie narrative. I think they could have captured that with a mock documentary style that could have been really good, but instead it looks like they decided to get rid of everything I most liked about the book. Disappointing, but not surprising.
ReplyDeleteI have not read the book, only seen the trailer and it does not impress. I'm fully open to the book being better, but I'll have to look into it.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has watched The Walking Dead tv show and thought it good, I fully recommend reading the walking dead comic book series. I heard about it originally by the tv show. Now having read the comic, I find the comic far superior in plot, characters, feeling, engagement, pretty much every way. The comic series is creatively darker, harsh, more human, primal, less cliche (than a "screen for general audience" adaptation) and a more enjoyable story
Fast zombies. Whee.
ReplyDeleteWhat's scary about zombies is you think you should be able to get away from them because they're so slow and brainless. But they have numbers on their side and they never stop. And unless you're very, very smart and ahead of them by several steps, you're going to become part of the flood.
I enjoyed the Zombie Survival Guide and WW Z was interesting but I'm ready for a 'real' zombie movie. Can you imagine what science would be doing in the face of a zombie apocalypse? Researchers from every field would be falling over themselves for a chance to study the phenomenon. And do we really think we'd fight this scourge with bullets? Who is that organized and equipped? Isn't more likely that we'd be working to incapacitate and immobilize this force? Why send soldiers into harm's way when you can herd the zombies into box canyons? Why expend bullets when all you have to do is isolate the things? I think there are many interesting aspects of this story that we've ignored in favor of traditional Hollywood story lines.
Soooooo, probably not gonna watch this one.
I've heard a interesting pop culture theory before, which I think will be tested in the box office for this movie. The theory is that in times when liberals are in power, vampire movies become popular, because vampires represent what conservatives fear about the human race: they're sexual, they hate God, they're after your children and they look like "normal people." On the other hand, when conservatives are in power, horror movies swing towards zombie films, because they represent the liberal fear of humans: unthinking, violent masses swarming and overwhelming the planet.
ReplyDeleteIt's all a little too cute to be true, probably. But with the recent election results, we should expect this movie to tank, which is good, because it looks like it sucks.
The movie looks pretty bad, I'm sure it'll tank.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I am highly doubtful that a real-life zombie apocolypse will ever happen. Considering that there is more awareness for zombies than celebrity gossip, autism, cancer, AIDS, african warlords, genetic disorders, and politics COMBINED!!