I'll start by saying I understand. I saw Titan AE with friends in the theater and I came home and wrote a similar long screed when I got home about all the things in that movie that pissed me off why it was a flaming piece of shit as well.
I refuse to watch I, Robot as it has nothing to do with Asimov's book. That said, I have not read WWZ and for whatever reason I turned my brain off and mostly enjoyed the movie at face value for whatever reason. Anyway, you make some good points, but here are my thoughts on a few things, not that I'm trying to make excuses for the movie or anything.
Was the year ever specifically confirmed or hinted at? I don't remember any direct clues that jumped out at me. It just seemed kind of 'recent times'. The phone that Gerry was talking to his wife and Thierry with was pretty chunky. To me that placed the film a few years back, perhaps before youtube and ease of video uploading. I don't remember other phones in the film.onemanfilmcrew wrote:1. How did nobody know about the zombies?
We live in a digital age, where everybody has a video camera on their phone and a vast network that gives them the ability to instantly upload that video to the internet. Yet when South Korea goes dark, the only clue that is available is a lone email that has the word "Zombie" in it. I could buy this if the movie took place in the 1960's, but this is 2013. When a meteor landed in Siberia recently there were several hundred videos that were available within minutes. Are we really to believe that the entire country of South Korea (which is much more technologically advanced that the small town in Siberia) didn't capture a single video of the zombies rampaging through the streets? I guess nobody in the military or the government intelligence agencies have access to youtube.
When in South Korea, I swear they mentioned 'minutes' in regard to some of the infected there. Also the patient that doomed the base there took a while to exhibit the sickness. Of course this line of thinking then creates problems with the 12 seconds to infection count which is relied on as a point of safety.2. How did the outbreak cross oceans?
When the Philly outbreak occurs, Gerry is able to determine that the time between bite and transformation is 12 seconds.
See #2?3. How was the zombie outbreak able to strike virtually every city at once?
His wife had flares, but they still needed to be somewhere easy to find that was still close enough to the water for the helicopter to be able to reach from the ships. I'd think telling them to look for a flare on a tall building or an landmark in the city was easier than telling them they'd be sitting in a field off such and such a highway. I agree not perfect, but I can kind of understand a bit.4. Why did Gerry go to Newark?
After Philly Gerry's daughter had an asthma attack, so naturally he needed to get her medication. Great, I'll buy that. What I don't buy is the fact that shortly after escaping Philly by the skin of their teeth, Gerry (who remember is supposed to be the smartest, most valuable member of the UN) takes his family to Newark, which is not only a major city but is in the shadow of the largest city in the nation. Again, this is 2013 and asthma medication is common and widespread, so wouldn't it make more sense to hit a small town pharmacy rather than go into a panicked zombie infested city? He knows he has a military helicopter coming to get him, so wouldn't it make more sense to go to a sparsely populated area and have them land in the field?
There are still tons and tons of islands away from major airports that get several flights a day. They'd be isolated pretty quickly. Plus everyone knows that Madagascar will close their airport and never be infected.5. Why send Gerry out to find a vaccine?
When Gerry is taken to the command center to get up to speed, there is a brief shot of a counter that estimates the number of dead/infected. It is already over 3.5 Billion. 3.5 Billion. That's half the worlds population that has been wiped out in the span of a day (or if you go from the initial breakout, 12 days). Even after having that information Gerry is still forced out into the world to find "patient zero" so that the few remaining scientists can create a vaccine. Even in best case scenarios, a vaccine can take months to produce. Half the population is already dead in less than two weeks, so who in the world is going to be left to take advantage of a vaccine? For that matter, what is the point of a vaccine at that point? If it worked as a vaccine typically works, it would prevent the host from being infected upon a bite. Of course it's safe to assume that the zombies would continue to bite them, or given how they move would trample them to death. So right off the bat Gerry's mission is a pointless one.
I'm thought they explained that the walls had been a long time coming. The contact in Jerusalem for Gerry was the one dissenter of a group who 'saw the zombie menace coming', so he didn't convince them to build anything. Old Jerusalem is walled off, so there is sort of a precedent for it.7. The Israeli wall and inept military.
So we get to Israel, and somehow based on a single email that has the word "Zombie" in it, a Mossad guy has been able to convince his government to build a wall about what appears to be the entire city of Jerusalem. Not just build a wall, but a forty foot high wall. Oh, and they built it in less than two weeks time. Even if we assume they had the manpower and machinery to undertake that kind of project, where did they get all of the material from? Jerusalem is roughly 48 square miles, which means if they covered the entire city it would be nearly 200 miles of fencing. And yes I realize there is already a fence in place, but it isn't a 40 foot high security wall and it isn't impenetrable, which for this project to be successful it would need to be.
I agree that was dumb. Maybe it was edited out?8. After the plane crash, why leave the last zombie alive?
The plane has now crashed in Whales (within walking distance of their destination no less) and the only two characters on the plane with names have survived. Fine, I'll buy that since it's a movie. As they are leaving however they notice a lone zombie that survived the crash, and it is still strapped into the seat. Why, when it would have taken all of ten seconds with any one of the dozens of available sharp objects around, would you leave it alive? They are out in the middle of the country that doesn't appear to have been impacted by the zombies yet, at least until that one gets loose.
I thought that was dumb too. Genius accidentally poked through his little rubber glove. That shit would have been in a sealed hood with the big gloves through the window or even remote control manipulators or something and a lab tech would have been in a protective suit. Yay movie dumbing down.9. Why was the WHO lab not taking safety precautions?
The final act has Gerry and his one handed Israeli soldier sneaking into the cordoned off wing of the WHO research facility. When they ask what happened they are shown a video of some of the world's top scientist working with blood samples when an accident occurs and he becomes infected. Now this is without a doubt the deadliest virus in the history of mankind, yet they are working on open air stations with no bio suits and no safety precautions whatsoever. They are treating this like it's 3rd period chemistry rather than something that can kill them in an instant. I mean they keep the curable deadly diseases under lock and key, but this stuff is just wide open.
I thought about that too. already had a spooked zombie in there, ringing the phone again wouldn't have been a huge deal. The other guy had gone with them to the vault though, so they were expecting to have him punch in the code. But they should all 3 have had it just in case. They should have also discussed what potential things to grab while there or at least said 'stuff from cabinet #3 on the right'.10. Why weren't they given the security code?
So Gerry and his team gets separated in the zombie infested wing of the WHO, and it's Gerry who ends up finding the correct storage unit. Just before he attempts to break the lock the phone rings, where the scientist on the other end gives him the pass code. One would think that if you were going to be sneaking into an area that is filled with zombies who react to sound that you might want to know what the security code is instead of waiting on a phone call to get it.
11. Why didn't Gerry ask which deadly virus to inject himself with?
As stupid as that scene was, it did establish that someone was watching Gerry and that they had a way to communicate with him. The supposedly brilliant Gerry does absolutely nothing with that knowledge. When he becomes trapped he grabs a vial of an unknown deadly virus and injects himself with it in the hopes that it will camouflage him from the zombies. Before he does however he writes a brief note that says "tell my family I love them". Why doesn't he hold up a vial of the deadly virus to the camera, then a sign that says "take this one? Call if yes". rather than just blindly taking something?
The catch was deadly diseases, not just injuries. If the zombies only wanted to nibble on healthy people, you can still be pretty healthy with a wound if it is not infected. Granted Gerry had more than a cut on his finger. I don't think the solder just had a sprain or an ingrown toenail or something. Maybe he had an STD from going to the red light district or gangrene from an injury that was untreated since the doctor was gone 12 days prior when the shit hit the fan.12. Why wasn't Gerry already immune?
The big thing that Gerry figures out is that the zombies don't attack non-healthy people. There was the bald kid who we assume has cancer, the old man, the drunken bum, and the military man with the bad leg. The military guy is the key here since his only defect is he has a bad leg, and with that bad leg he was able to stand in the middle of a room full of zombies and fight them without them paying him any attention. In the plane crash Gerry had a large shard of metal go completely through his gut, presumably injuring some vital organs. This is evident when he hits the zombie in the head with the crowbar and doubles over in pain. Regardless of the specific injuries, he is at least as injured as the soldier with the bad leg, which leads to the question of "why wasn't he immune to the zombies already?" Gerry should have been able to waltz right in and grab the viruses without any issues.
You can say that about anything. If someone had figured it out, they'd be the main character of the story. When things were being overrun, the healthy doctors and caretakers at retirement homes would be attacked, but the infirm that were left behind would probably be less likely to be able to let others know.13. How did nobody else figure the "solution" out?
So the big solution that Gerry had to go to the ends of the earth to find is that the zombies ignore the sick. Now it is established early on that the command center is still in contact with a lot of places in the USA, which begs the question of how did nobody notice this before? If we are to believe the "rules" set in place here, that the zombies don't attack the non-healthy, then this should be very obvious almost immediately. I mean the radio guy asks an unknown person if they've encountered anyone who has survived a bite, and at some point somebody would have probably mentioned that the entire cancer ward at the hospital was unaffected, or that the zombies bypassed the retirement homes.
). Let's not pretend zombie books are somehow much more intelligent than reality TV shows...