Zombies & Domes

I seem to average one action blockbuster movie per summer. For some reason if I see a good one, it fills the void for awhile. But would it be: “Iron Man 3,” “Man of Steel,” “Star Trek: Into Darkness” or “Pacific Rim”? No, ultimately it was none of them. Instead I was lured to Brad Pitt and the zombies last Friday night in the apocalyptic movie “World War Z,” and luckily it did the trick, filling my fix of action packed adrenaline for awhile with some whopping special effects.

Of course it has hardly anything to do with the book by Max Brooks, or so says my husb who read it and told me not to bother since he didn’t think it was very good. In the book, they interview survivors after a long war with zombies, while the movie captures a zombie pandemic in full swing and the worldwide pandemonium that ensues.

Some readers are displeased it didn’t follow the book, others are happy the movie went its own way. I think it does a pretty good job for a summer action flick. It has suspense, it has scary zombies, it has Brad Pitt as a U.N. worker trying to save the day before the whole world becomes infected. It held my attention like a decent zombie movie should do.

But I probably had set a pretty low bar for “World War Z” going in because of all the problems I heard the filmmakers had in production. The film was way over budget, it had to be delayed and re-shot, and rewritten. Gosh it sounded like it nearly imploded judging from the June article in Vanity Fair. I think it was pulled back from the brink. Despite all that, the movie’s done well and is better than most expected. It’s pulled in $170 million in 3 weeks and likely will re-coop its budget. It’s been quite a surprise after all.

But then I had faith since I like zombie stuff in general, and Brad, too, for that matter. I’ve seen three seasons of “The Walking Dead” (oh Andrea, what happened?!) and I’ll watch the apocalyptic zombie movie “I am Legend” whenever it’s replayed on TV, which it is quite often. I think “I am Legend” is scarier and better than “World War Z,” though “Z” is more of a 3D extravaganza. In both films, the zombies can run fast! Whereas in “The Walking Dead” and the original “The Night of the Living Dead” the zombies are dawdlers in comparison. The new zombies just won’t stand still to have their heads bashed in. They’re getting smarter and they’re hungrier, too. Hiding out behind locked metal doors is your best bet, or finding that darn cure pretty lickety-split.

Like most summer features “World War Z” didn’t stay with me long. Its action and suspense are good, but I mostly forgot about it not long after I left the theater. The zombie outbreak only took me so far without too much depth. And Brad’s hair was ready for a shampoo and change by the end.

Meanwhile I’ve watched a few episodes of the new TV series “Under the Dome” based on the 1,088 page sci-fi novel by Stephen King about a small town that finds itself cut off from the world by a mysterious barrier that suddenly surrounds it. I think my husb thinks the show’s pretty weak so far, and is like a soap opera. The characters are a bit stereotypical I admit, but I’m willing to keep with it for awhile at least. It’s pretty entertaining in a mindless TV kind of way. But it probably doesn’t hold a candle to the book, or does it? I guess I’ll have to plow through King’s Dome sometime to find out.

Until then, what do you think? Have you liked any action flicks this summer? Or what do you think of “Under the Dome”?