World War Z is a zombie film starring Brad Pitt, directed by Marc Forster based on the novel of the same name by Max Brooks. When zombies attack Philadelphia and almost kill his family, former UN employee Gerry Lane (Pitt) joins humanity’s fight against the undead. Lane’s fight takes him around the globe, from the Americas to Israel to the Koreas.

World War Z is boring. It’s every zombie cliche under the sun being played out. It’s nothing new. What makes it worse is that World War Z decides not to show any gore. Even though it’s a zombie film, a genre that’s begging for blood and guts. Showing gallons of blood doesn’t make a film any better, but it feels safe and unchallenging after watching The Walking Dead. Not helping this film is the fact that the novel World War Z is much better and it’s a unique take on the zombie genre compared to the movie.

Brad Pitt’s Lane is nothing interesting. Lane is more of a power fantasy for overprotective fathers than he is an actual character. It doesn’t help that the film wants to develop this bond between Lane and his family. Except that Lane’s family is just as boring and undeveloped as he is. To add insult to injury, Lane has the majority of screen time while his family is introduced in the first act and is pretty much abandoned for the rest of the movie besides a few scenes once a while.

Watching World War Z as an adaptation of an excellent novel is even more insulting. What made the novel so unique within the zombie genre is that it’s written as memoir or biography of a fictional zombie apocalypse. The novel also contains viewpoints from different characters from multiple, different nations. World War Z wasn’t just about one white, American male who lives in the suburbs. World War Z was about the political and social consequences of a zombie apocalypse.

World War Z is a cliche storm as an action, unchallenging as a zombie film, and abysmal as an adaptation. This movie is two steps backwards for the zombie genre. World War Z is a 4/10.