A Movie Review of World War Z Directed by Marc Foster

Film Review: World War Z (2013)

World War Z is a 2013 action movie which was directed by Marc Foster. The film is about a sudden outbreak of a zombie plague that turns people into zombies in the whole world. So as a result of this situation, a former United Nations worker Gerry Lane is called back into service by his old boss and he heads off to Asia in search of a cure and the fate of humanity lies in his hands of him.

In World War Z we see a lot of signifiers that are deliberately selected and placed in the movie. These signifiers are “zombie”, “infection”, “family”, “Jerusalem”, “Brad Pitt”, and “Pepsi”.

To begin with “zombie” and “infection” terms are our first two signifiers. “Zombie” term is very popular in today’s modern culture of the United States and some ohe American people relieve in a potential zombie apocalypse. So there are a lot of movies, songs, books, and other works about these zombies.

In every work, these zombies have specific characteristics like slowness and expressionlessness, but this movie has a lot of kinds of zombies. They are angry and a mix of the fast, running type of ghoul and the slow, shambling varieties, and these kinds of zombies are different than usual to the audience. This movie shows us the “human vs. Zombie” situation because when I consider the title of the movie World War Z, I think that the letter “z” represents the zombies and the title represents the war between humans and zombies.

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Zombies are frightening because they prey on an infinite number of human victims, and they don’t need weapons. They are not an army that can be beaten; they have no purpose except replication and attack. Also, their “infections” show their effect quickly. When a zombie bites a person in the movie, that person turns into a zombie within only 12 seconds which can be considered quick and fast, and as a result of their infection; cities, countries, and entire continents are almost filled with these zombies. So, the “zombie apocalypse” finally looks big enough to be believable with these two “zombie” and “infection” signifiers. In a potential zombie apocalypse like this, I think that there is no chance for humans to win the war.

Secondly, “family” is our third and one of the powerful signifiers in the movie. Gerry Lane has a strong relationship with his family. Throughout the movie, Gerry’s family is on his mind, and he thinks about them all the time. At first,t he does not accept the mission but his love for his family and the will of saving them from the danger of zombie infection force him to accept the dangerous mission. Even in the most dangerous situation,s he thinks about his family. When he woke up in the  World Health Organization facility he immediately calls his wife Karin and asks Thierry about his wife and his children. And also before he injected a disease into his body he writes a note that say “Tell my family, I love them”. So I think that his love for his family andhise will of saving them is one of the things that give him power and help Gerry to achieve his mission. I also think that if he does not have a family, there would be no chance for him to achieve this mission. As a result,t we see the importance and power of the family and the effects of family relationships on the world in World War Z.

Thirdly, “Jerusalem” is another signifier in the movie. In the movie, it is told that Jerusalem is the only place that does not affect and is occupied by the zombies thanks to the walls of Jerusalem. Interestingly, the film brings two enemy societies Israelis and Palestinians together. The height of the wall is extreme and it keeps people safe.

Inside of the wall, everybody is fine but outside everybody is a zombie. In other words, the model for the protection of the world from zombies is Israel’s method of stopping Palestinian terror which is the construction of a wall. I think that the director gave us a message about the holiness of Jerusalem but in the end, when the Palestinians, Israelis,s, and Jews join together to sing a song of peace, they attract the attention of the outside zombies. The joyful noise drives the zombies on the other side of the wall into collective action and they use each others’ bodies as ladders to climb to surmount the wall and fall to the other side to begin the carnage Jerusalem is also invaded by the zombies. I think that there is also a message for the audience which wants them to think again about its holiness of it.

Fourthly, “Brad Pitt” himself is a signifier too, in World War Z. His character Gerry Lane portrays the “American Hero” concept of the United States. Gerry Lane is a white, courageous, strong, and handsome character. He does not only fight for his family but also his country and all of humanity. He is the only man who can save the people and the world, so the movie a little bit looks like “Brad Pitt vs. zombies”. Shortly, as Gerry, Pitt is cool, fearless, ten,e and compassionate like a great hero in this movie,e and Brad Pitt and his character is signified as an “American Hero” to the audience.

Lastly, we see “Pepsi” in the movie as a signifier of American Capitalism. Capitalism is one of the characteristics of the United States that keeps it alive and makes it strong. In the last scene of the movie Ger,ry Lane drinks a Pepsi and use uses the Pepsi machine to take the attention of the zombies. I think it is very clear that this scene is t place with the aim of can capitalism because within the scene the American brand Pepsi is shown and advertised to the audience. In conclusion, World War Z is a movie that has both popular culture elements and American ideologies like “zombies and infections”, “American Hero” and “American Capitalism”. Holy places and concepts like “Jerusalem” and “family” are also used in the d War Z movie as signifiers. And the film also suggests and supports the multi-ethnical identity. We can understand this by the relationships of the different societies in the movie. Also at the end of the movie, the solutions are delivered to the event people as much can be possible throughout the world.