WORLD WAR Z (**1/2)

Ever since George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead”, zombies have been mostly used as a metaphor on social, political, racial commentary. Quite visually, “World War Z” brings forth the zombie apocalypse as an incurable viral epidemic raging on a global scale like “Contagion”.

Only there doesn’t seem to be an explainable reason (only suggesting some virus born out of the environment) for the rise of the undead population that has begun to devour like a ravenous tsunami on major cities during traffic congested rush hour.

Caught in such a moment is Brad Pitt who plays Gerry Lane, a ex- U.N. investigator who used to work” dangerous places” who  retired to be with his wife, Karen (Mireille Enos) and their children. But I guess because of Gerry’s profession, danger has a way of finding a person like him.

Gerry with his family finds themselves on route stuck in traffic. Suddenly a fleeing cyclist suddenly rips off his driver’s mirror. And then when a cop on a cycle advises Gerry to stay in his vehicle. The cop gets bulldozed by an out of control truck. These are sudden, shock moments that we observe that drives this

And almost like a scene from 9/11 cloud burst and thunderous sounds heads toward the cars to show a wave of fast moving zombies washing upon and turning people into them.

Gerry and his family find refuge with a Latino family in a hi-rise project. Where Gerry gets a phone call from his former boss, Thierry (South African actor Fana Mokoena in an impressionable performance here) who blackmails Gerry back into action in order to provide sanctuary for his family on a UN ship monitoring the events.

Gerry is placed on a global search for the cure, when he’s paired with a young doctor who knows something about this Zombie epidemic. The trek begins in South Korea aboard a plane where the doctor fighting with the soldiers against the zombies upon landing there; accidentally stumbles with a gun and kills himself.

But soon after and throughout the film, Gerry learns some key dialogue from the deceased doctor and on of the elite force soldiers (James Badge Dale) and a jailed CIA agent (David Morse) for selling ammo to the enemy that is obviously mentioned in a matter that will come into play later for Gerry.

Gerry is then advised to travel to Jerusalem where the Israelis managed (so far) to keep the zombies out with their Great Wall they’ve built in advance of the one word e-mail warning of “zombies’.

Until Gerry arrives and gets paired with a female commando, Segen (Daniella Kertesez) who gets bite that Gerry chops her hand off to prevent the infection from spreading.

But not before another doctor tells and soon after arranges an airplane to take Gerry somewhere near Wales to the W.H.O institute.

Naturally, somehow a lone zombie is suddenly released from the locked toilet in the coach section that leads to an unsuccessful attempt to keep quiet while trying to barricade.

These moments of coincidence are washed over to be less obvious than they become in the film

Still, director Marc Forster handles the action and grandeur of this doomsday nightmare with better skillfulness and tighter scenes than what he did with the James Bond opus “Quantum of Solace”. Although there are missteps made that were more the writers’ fault than his efforts that both should have caught.

Reportedly, the film had difficulties with its ending. The writers who altered the proceedings from Max Brooks’ 2006 novel (Yes, he’s the son to Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft) find a cheap way out that doesn’t solve the zombie problem but provides some kind of hope of its resolution to the cheers of its gullible audience.

When a doctor takes Gerry to see the worst disease in action on the blackest man kept in isolation.  Maybe it was, unintentional, but still comes off a bit as an unfair racial slap in the face. Since out of all the plague infected zombies that were white.

This film finds and dramatizes the sickness with the darkest black man with the bulging eyes. The filmmakers and writer should have known better in taking a  step backwards in this manner that could be misinterpreted (racially offensive) and laughed at.

And I guess, this is what probably makes Gerry sacrifice himself for humanity more than his family (moved to a concentration camp in Nova Scotia when he was thought to be dead) has to travel through quarantine corridors of the institute. Where contaminated scientists turned into zombies are the obstacles that Gerry must wage through to get the serums with the worst disease that might camouflage the humans from being noticed by the zombies.

“World War Z” is quite visually remarkable and suspenseful.  But it’s not gory and/or graphic as this genre tends to be for it’s ravish fans who are currently dining on AMC’s “Walking Dead”. It’s also not enough to make up for some of the movie’s shortcomings during this apocalypse. Even though “World War Z” is quite  the popcorn movie to watch.

PG-13; 115min.  A Paramount Pictures Release – Presented at selected theaters

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (**1/2)

“Monsters University” is the hollow halls of this year’s offering from Pixar Animation Studios that is an inventive and amusing “pre”-quel to the characters we enjoyed in their introduction to us in their 2001 hit “Monsters Inc.”. Essentially, this is “When Sully met Mike” in what is more parody than farce on college life revolving around the relationship of these ghoulish scarers-in-training.

After seeing his destiny as a child monster on a field trip, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) grows into a social outcast considered not scary enough to fulfill his dream of being a scarer but is determined to prove otherwise.

When Mike arrives at the college and enrolls into the School of Scaring; he initially shares a dorm room with Randy (Steve Buscemi), the chameleon reptile that can make itself invisible who befriends Mike in the beginning. Only to leave him to be part of the cool kids from Roar Gamma Roar and serves a reminder us as Randy’s future villain status in “Monsters Inc.”.

Soon after Mike meets hot-shot James P. “Sully” Sullivan (John Goodman) making a grand entrance in class; acting cocky and confident as the new “big ghoul on campus” whose living off his father’s reputation and initially becomes Mike‘s chief adversary to prove  who can out-scare the other in Professor Knight’s (Alfred Molina’s lab class. Briefly interrupted by the university’s stern dean, Abigail Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren). But like most of the characters she’s little more scary than evil.

As it turns out, Mike’s the brainiac to Sully’s brawn.  Mike is studious enough to pinpoints Sully’s mental weakness from not studying in their classes.  Even though, Mike’s mental ability can’t off set Sully’s natural talent and physicality over his diminutive size and lack of menacing appearance.

But when an accident occurs in class to the Dean’s prized scare canister caused by Mike and Sully that gets them placed Hardscrabble’s bad side. Hardscrabble advises the classroom that her final scare” exam will be the determining factor on who passes or will be expelled from the school.

I know that I might be pre-dating myself, but  this film’s inspiration might have came from  some old Harvey Comics cartoons from Paramount Pictures during the 1960’s that featured a similar premise with Casper the Friendly Ghost and his “boo” experiences in school with varied  pun jokes. Some of that kind of in-joke humor and puns should have been, but aren’t apparent enough here.

Anyway, secretly fronting off out of fear, “Sully” makes himself sought after by the top frat house group, Roar Mecca Roar led by their pompous leader, Johnny (Nathan Fillion) who always wins everything from Scare Games to the finals.

While Mike is relegated to the lowest frat house of misfits on campus, Oozma Kappa who is relatively defined characters in their moments like in “Toy Story”.  Where all of Andy’s bedroom toys would always followed Woody’s lead.

Now Mike intends to  be their leader and initially proclaiming he’ll carry the team to victory. When Sully is made to join their ranks. Eventually during the scare games Oozma Kappa manage to be the  last surviving team left against Roar Gamma Roar. Only the Oozma Kappa ultimately loses when Mike realizes there is no “I” in “team”.

But also eventually, from these spoils develops a friendship between Mike and Sully with the group members who begin to find ways to meet the varied challenges in the finals.

Even though throughout the film, Mike periodically hears that he’s not scary enough to be a scarer. This echoes discouraging words all kids have heard before. Whether one is too short, too small, too fat , too slow, not coordinated enough etc.

It’s almost like a cinematic page out of the 1993 football movie “Rudy” that fails to come across here. Instead, the movie  show Sully receives  a warning from Dean Hardscrabble about Mike that makes Sully cheat to help Mike win for their team in a  scream –off competition that he later admits to.

In order for Sully to admit his insecurities and what he lacks in one area Mike surely makes up the difference in other area that makes him worthy. When Sully and  Mike break into Monsters Inc. to go behind one of the doors leading to a sleeping human child that is a security breach Dean Hardscrabble locks the door on the two trapped ghouls who have to figure an alternative to get back over to their side

Although entertaining at times, “Monsters University” is not one of Pixar’s strongest films in recent years. Maybe the animators and brain trusts at Pixar are in a rut.

After 20 years, Pixar’s audience has gotten older and may feel a little nostagliac at times. But there is not enough balance here to suggest that the animators might be inadvertently overlooking their next generation of young children who may not find enough to enjoy for themselves this time around. Only tolerate for the sake of their parents who might feel differently.

Well, this is what I sort of over heard in the theater.  As parents who usually ask their young ones what they thought of the movie they were brought to view. And it’s the kids that were the ones responding in a neutral, almost diplomatic-like comment more like their adults would do to their kid flicks. Now that’s kinds scary

The feature opens with a another gentle mini short, “The Blue Umbrella” about another in-adamant object leading into romantic expressions on the city streets like last year’s Oscar winner short, “Paperman” that is cute but might be going to the same well once too often here.

G; 110min. A Pixar Animation Studio Picture – Preleased through Walt Disney Pictures –

Presented at selected theaters

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (***)

Doing mega-budgeted fantasy-action adventure movie blockbusters like “The Avengers” is more of a logistic nightmare with actor reacting behind green screen background that is later   inserted with massive special effects wizardry.

Obviously, filmmaker Joss Whedon who came from comic books and  TV horror and sci-fi creation that has given him cult  status  with “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, “Firefly”  and “Serenity”  and now working on  Marvel’s “Agents from S.H.I.E.L.D” for ABC and scripting “The Avengers 2”.

Before the latter two projects began, Whedon artistically felt the need to scale down and challenge himself on this personal pet project. The end result is a remarkable well tailored and engaging “The Big Chill”-type ensemble from Whedon’s stable of TV actor alums from his series doing Shakespeare on a shoestring budget

With a contemporary look filmed at Whedon’s own  Santa Monica mansion  with a royalty-like attitude from his cast that are wearing suits and casual wear over medieval  armor and  gowns.  Shot in twelve days; photographed in glorious black and white and taken from the Bard’s own text

Shakespeare’s comedy of the eventual wooing from the sparing matches between Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Beatrice (Amy Acker) amidst a cast of mismatched characters with their own motives and desires. Such as the cruel scheme of Don John (Sean Maher) to sabotage the passionate courtship of the lovesick Claudio (Fran Kranz) and Hero (Jillian Morganese), the beautiful daughter of Leonato (Clark Gregg).

Whedon’s screen variation does not have enough energy and rowdy high spirit as star/ director Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 British made, all star version set in an Italian villa in Tuscamy Also some cast member aren’t up to the Bard’s text and tend to lean on their facial impressions.

Also this film could have benefited from a more spacious and forestry locale somewhere in the Hollywood hills or the Hamptons in upstate New York. But Whedon’s attempt to bring this literary work into contemporary sensibilities retains much of the humor as intended and the genuine performances that make this screen treatment mature and entertaining.

R; 109min. A Roadshow Attractions Picture Released through Lionsgate –

Presented at selected theaters