Blink and you'll miss Matthew Fox

Matthew Fox is not, like, a huge movie star or anything.

However, he is someone who seems like he should be in a movie like World War Z for longer than about two-and-a-half minutes, during which he has no lines of dialogue, and you can really only tell it's him because you can see his eyes peering out through his heavy military garb. (He's a soldier who gets off a chopper and shoots some undead in helping Brad Pitt and his family take off from the roof of an overrun building.)

Sometimes you can't tell the way a movie's been reshot; other times, you really can.

I just finished watching World War Z -- it's rainy as hell on this Tuesday afternoon, so I don't feel guilty being holed up at home -- and only because I have the keen eyes of a guy who's constantly trying to pick out actors he recognizes that I even determined it was Fox.

There's been a fair amount written about how Fox's character was originally more developed, as part of a possible trilogy of movies. However, I hadn't heard about any of that before watching the movie. Only now, trying to get an explanation of what happened, did I even google it.

While watching, when Fox didn't show up again, I just assumed "Nah, that wasn't him -- it was just someone with similar eyes."

Lo and behold, there he was in the credits -- he was actually listed sixth overall, even though there are at least 20 actors who have more to do in the movie than he does. I guess that's the consolation prize when you're the star of the box office juggernaut Alex Cross and you get cut out of World War Z.

Overall, I guess the changes Fox's Lost collaborators Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard made were pretty successful, as I enjoyed the movie. Because I stopped reading the book -- I just couldn't get into it -- I don't know how it differs. I will say that they certainly weren't kidding around about getting the "world" part into it. Who ever heard of a zombie movie in which one character trots his way around the entire globe?

That's World War Z for you, the James Bond movie of zombie movies. If you can't find Brad Pitt in South Korea, check for him in Israel or Wales. If he's not there he might be in Philadelphia or Nova Scotia.

If you're looking for Matthew Fox, well ... he's on the cutting room floor.