I just saw WWZ. I wasn’t going to, but it hit 100 here and my house doesn’t have AC and it was on at a good time and the reviews said it was less stupid than expected.
I knew it had only a passing resemblance to the book. I knew that. But I was disturbed at the zombies doing parkour in the trailers and I was told “oh, that doesn’t happen" but they are still FAST MOVING ZOMBIES which no.
I have never wanted to walk out of a movie so badly in my life. I didn’t because I paid my $15 for two hours of AC and by god, I was going to get my 2 hours of AC.
(I said in the Anglo-Filles episode that one reason summer blockbusters are a thing is because of AC)
But lets take the points one by one, shall we?
Sexist: There is one female character that actively does anything (And she doesn’t even get a name, she is identified only as her rank, Segen), and one other that might have a name, but I didn’t catch it, and she mostly looks anxious at the WHO.
Gerry’s wife, however, does nothing. NOT A DAMN THING. He goes off to save the world, and she….sits on the aircraft carrier and clutches a phone. She doesn’t even go and find something to do to help out on the ship….she clutches her phone. It’s pathetic. The girls cry or have asthma attacks… there’s no inner life for any of them. They are literally props to inspire the hero on his journey. Even of the leaders on the ship, one is a woman, and she has one line ("that’s crazy!") All the decisions are made by men. All of them.
Racist: White American saves the day. There’s the black, African Undersecretary at the UN, okay, but he doesn’t do much, he jsut sort of there as a token. No Asians, sacrificial Latin@s… oh, and don’t bother going to India, they all got eaten.
Stupid: These zombies are ridiculous. Either they are fast or slow, and they should have stuck with the zombie type that is in the book.
People keep making all sorts of stupid-ass decisions- Going through zombie-infested areas and not having the phone on silent. Or telling the wife to NOT CALL HIM (or the wife thinking that maybe calling is a terrible idea). Or nto giving the virologist any training about guns. Or putting down the crowbar to unlock the door and not taking it in the vault with you. Or understanding that the WHO scientists are jumpy at the random dude collapsing at their door and ANSWERING THEIR FUCKING QUESTIONS. Or bringing an extra battery for the phone. Or…. well, let’s talk about Jerusalem.
Anti-Semetic: This movie was surpisingly anti-Semetic. One of the main points of the book is that Israel get it’s shit together early on. Because of being driving to near-extinction so many times, they take threats seriously. They built a wall, they invited everyone who was Jewish, and everyone who had ancestry from the Occupied areas to come back, and they’ll shelter them. The only thing that got Israel and Palestine on the same page was zombies… and it worked.
Instead, the movie takes this idea, from Max Brooks, the son of Mel Brooks, who has always been proud of his Jewishness, and turns it into a clusterfuck. There’s the wall, and the everyone is coming in and being screened, and there’s a joyous celebration that everyone is going to sruvive… until the sound draws the zombies over the wall and into Jerusalem and Israel falls. Why does this happen?
BECAUSE APPARENTLY ISRAEL IS TOO STUPID TO PUT SENTRIES ON THE WALL. AND DEFENSIVE CAPABILITIES ARE JUST TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR. OR EVEN LOOKING OUTSIDE ONCE IN A WHILE. TOO STUPID. And that’s why Israel falls. Because they’re too dumb.
What the fuck.
My point is, this movie is terrible. THis is a waste of money, and Brad Pitt owes me $15 and I want it from him.
Honestly, I thought the book was pretty sexist and racist and incredibly hooked on white men saving everyone’s bacon, but I’m glad to see the movie managed to one-up the book in terms of horribleness.