*Since I didn’t publish my review for this movie on my website, I will come here and dish it out blunt and straight.  A Buffa Film-Addict special.  Enjoy.  I won’t bore you with cast listing, director spots, running times or anything else.  Just a dose of my thoughts on the film.  Straight, like black coffee or whiskey.  Also no official rating.  That is hard enough when I need to publish my review.  Here, all words.  No thumbs, number count or rating.  I will include a brief plot description.**

Plot-Gerry Lane(Pitt) is a former UN investigator who is called in by the government when a virus is unleashed and zombies take over North America.   With his family held safely on a  US Navy ship only if he helps find a cure, Lane must travel the globe and find an end to the madness before the world is completely under siege.  He has 90 days.

World War Z works because its brain is larger than its gore count.  Brad Pitt rightfully intervened in the editing process and brought in Lost Creator Damon Lindelof to do a rewrite of the script and added a pulse pounding 40 minute suspense filled finale that wraps the film up perfectly.  Pitt plays the lead character very well, spinning an everyman vibe on this leading character and making him one of us.  A man with a family trying desperately to figure out an end to the madness. The Zombies aren’t your normal undead foes here.  They sprint instead of walk and take just 10 seconds to turn into a monster. The best parts of this film are the tension filled moments. When Pitt and a few soldiers are riding bikes across a downpour of rain in the dark trying to board an airplane. Pitt aboard an airplane where a zombie has gotten on board and there is only one way to smoke him out. A finale that includes a chase for a cure and a puzzle house full of deadly turns and moments where nobody is safe. The end works because the twist in the story isn’t revealed too early and the script, direction and cast all work well together.  What I thought was going to be a CGI inflated mess of a film plagued by re-shoots is instead a very well done thriller.  In every sense of the word, this movie shakes, rattles and shocks you. It’s a highly entertaining summer treat.  I think Pitt needs to keep his hand in the producing chair as well as the acting gig because I can only imagine what that dreadful first cut looked like before he took the gloves off and cut it into this 115 minute adrenaline blast. I also really like the casting of True Blood and The Killing TV alum Mireille Enos as Pitt’s wife and mother of two daughters. They make a very believable couple and instead of hiring a hot bland actress, the filmmakers hired a woman with poignancy, depth and beauty.  Nice one make believers!

Here is the trailer-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EC7P5WdUko

For my colleague Chris McHugh’s take, visit http://www.film-addict.com and feed your fix on all things movies.