It is never a good sign that a movie has exactly one big star. Other than some semi-recognizable actors, Brad Pitt is the face of this mega-budget zombie flick. Another ominous sign for a movie is when its release date is delayed by 7 months. And it doesn't help curb negative rumors when the studio hires big-gun writers Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard to rewrite much of the script. Oh, and finally, it's a bad thing when a movie's ending is completely re-filmed after the studio screened the first cut and realized that the third act was too action-packed and chaotic.
Having said all of that, I must say that they pulled it together enough to create a pretty entertaining movie. I especially enjoyed the subdued characteristics of the final 30 minutes, which is very much the antithesis of most big studio blockbusters. The formula for big-budget action movies is to ramp up the action through the entire third act (see The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Transformers, etc). This was a refreshing take on how to end a big movie, with quiet, cerebral moments with the main character.
I did have quite a few issues with the movie, though. First, and most glaring, I was extremely aggravated by the fact that this was PG-13. Who wants to see a zombie movie and not actually see any blood? Not me. There were dozens of moments in the film where the director cut away from the gore or simply framed the violence just out of view, which I found very distracting. It took me out of the movie every time. Clearly, movies make more money if they appeal to a larger audience. I get that. But this was one of those instances where I wish realism took priority over a film making more money. I guess that is what happens when your budget balloons to nearly $200 million and your only chance of turning a profit is to make it PG-13.
My second issue with the movie was how manic the blocking was for the main action sequences. The camera was so shaky and the position of the actors and zombies in relation to each other was confusing. Everything was moving so fast and there was such great care to cut away from the action the instant actual violence was about to occur, which caused a visual frenzy.
(semi-spoiler territory ahead........maybe? but not really)
My third and final gripe was the voice-over narration at the end. It frustrates me when there is no voice-over throughout an entire movie and then the last 60 seconds are explained to us by one of the characters. You haven't been our narrator at any point in the story, don't start now. Instead, the coda should have been exposited by news reel, just like we see in the opening credits.
I'm a big Brad Pitt fan and enjoyed watching him carry a flawed movie.
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