All blockbusters these days arrive in theaters with an avalanche of a backstory, but the one for is richer than most.

During production, the film's budget ballooned to (reportedly) more than $200 million; it endured massive reshoots and was eventually stitched together to combine the visions of no fewer than four writers. But the important question is, is the film worth watching, or is it destined to be known more by its troubled history than its future at the box office?

Critics thus far have been divided about the film's merits, with some calling it engaging and sharp and others dismissing it as slick and superficial. MTV News assembled a roundup of some of the reactions critics have published on the Web so fans have something in mind when they decide which movies to see in theaters this weekend.

The Comparison


 "At its best, 'World War Z' treads in territory much like Steven Soderbergh's 'Contagion' but when it covers territory that's already been well covered in films like Danny Boyle's '28 Days Later' it feels somewhat redundant."
— Ed Douglas, Comingsoon.net


The Scares


 "There are palpable moments of terror, but once we've seen the flesh-eating hordes up close, it's hard not to laugh at their goggly eyes, incessant jerking and hideous gnashing teeth."
— Claudia Puig, USA Today


The Gross-Out Factor


 "The dangers maintain a relatively innocuous feel, partly because the movie's so aggressively PG-13: There's little in the way of gore or other grotesque imagery to imbue the situation with bonafide terror. Merciful cutaways abound — you never really see ...

Superman has the strength, Brad Pitt has the looks, but it will be educated cartoon creatures who end up on top.

Pixar's a prequel to 2001's "Monsters, Inc.," is projected to win the weekend at the box office even against Pitt's zombie-filled and last weekend's record-breaking champion, "Man of Steel." In Pixar Animation's latest, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman) meet as rivals in college, in a story with nods to "Revenge of the Nerds," "Animal House" and other college movie classics.

Analysts predicted an opening weekend between $70 and $80 million for "Monsters University," which would be the biggest opening for an animated flick since "Toy Story 3." The higher end of that would put it behind "Iron Man 3," "Man of Steel" and "Fast & Furious 6" on the 2013 openings scorecard.

Only three Pixar movies have made more than "Monsters, Inc." (once adjusted for inflation) out of the 13 films the studio released before "Monsters University." The last two pictures from the Northern California-based powerhouse, "Brave" and "Cars 2," weren't the type of hits that had defined the Pixar brand. Worse still, "Cars 2" earned the unfortunate distinction of being the only Pixar movie with a "rotten" score on the Rotten Tomatoes "Tomatometer," which aggregates reviews from film critics. The familiarity with the characters from "Inc." and the lack of a rival family movie in the marketplace should help "Monsters U." restore the Pixar brand to its once untouchable status.

That will leave Superman and Brad Pitt to battle it out for ...

The Miami Heat wrapped up their third NBA Championship — and second of the LeBron/D-Wade/uh, Bosh "Big Three" era — on Thursday night, closing out the San Antonio Spurs in a grueling Game 7.

This was, of course, met with much jubilation by the Heat's celeb fans, who took to Twitter to revel in the team's victory. Others, like Drake, attempted to join the celebration in the Heat locker room, only to be turned away in spectacularly hilarious fashion (don't worry, Drizzy eventually ended up partying with LeBron and Dwyane until the wee hours of the morning).

Rihanna congratulated the Heat on Instagram, posting a pic of her mean-mugging in a LeBron James jersey (and Heat sunglasses), and writing to the two-time Finals MVP "I tried to tell 'em King! They didn't hear me doe! Shout out to you for giving us yet ANOTHER legit reason to talk that s---!" She also added several hashtags, including #HEAT, #KING, and, of course, #PhuckASpur.

Justin Bieber was actually at Game 7, though the on-court action apparently left him speechless, as all he could tweet was "Great game." Meanwhile, One Directioner Niall Horan was much more verbose, posting a lengthy congratulatory tweet that read "Go Heat! Lebron James is a monster! Talk about stepping up to the mark under pressure," and posting an adorable Instagram pic of him decked out in Heat gear.

Of course, there were a whole lot of Miami residents rejoicing, too, including Rick Ross (very demurely), DJ ...

Johnny Depp is so identifiable as an actor that it seems impossible for anyone not to recognize him. But according to Depp, not even longtime collaborator Jerry Bruckheimer recognized the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star when he first donned his makeup as Tonto in

In an exclusive featurette about the Disney flick, Depp and makeup artist Joel Harlow remember when the star got fully into his character for the first time — so fully that it was hard to tell who he was.

"Joel Harlow built the makeup and he came over and took some pictures," Depp said. "I took those photographs to Jerry Bruckheimer," Harlow recalled. "Johnny showed it to Jerry and Jerry said, 'This is great; who is this?' "

"The Lone Ranger" is a big-screen update of the main character in popular radio and television serials. Playing opposite Depp's Tonto as the title character is Armie Hammer, who admitted that he was awestruck when he first donned the character's iconic disguise. "The first time I put on the mask, I put it on just thinking, 'This is going to be cool,' " he said.

Meanwhile, the duo squares off against acclaimed character actor William Fichtner, who describes his character as someone no one wants to tussle with. "I think the last guy you want to find in a dark alley is Butch Cavendish," Fichtner said.

Bruckheimer agreed, adding, "We pit these two guys together against some very vicious villains."

Ruth Wilson provides some female strength as Rebecca Reid, a character whose fate hangs in the balance until the title character ...

It's back to the lab in the second commercial for Jay-Z's eagerly anticipated upcoming album, Magna Carta Holy Grail.
 In the first spot, which dropped earlier this week, we saw Jigga chop it up in the studio with a bevy of major producers including Rick Rubin, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland and Pharrell Williams.

That three-minute commercial was followed on Thursday by a 30-second spot in which Jay and Tim continue grinding away on the album. "We should make, like, four more this week since we got time," Jay says to Timbaland while rapidly tapping a pen in time to one of the producer's signature manic beats. "Just, you know, I think I'm ready now, like before was just like the warm-up."

By the half-way point, Tim tells Jay, "I can set that," and twiddles some knobs on his mixing board, morphing the skittering track into one that sounds like a computer melting down. The glitchy arrangement clearly appeals to both men, who smile and shake their heads as it sputters and lurches from the speakers.

Jigga is clearly feeling it, giving out a war whoop as what sounds like a robot drowning in a pool cracks and sputters through the studio and the on-screen information reveals that the Samsung app that will distribute one million copies of Magna Carta to Galaxy users will be available starting on June 24.

Magna Carta will go on sale to the general public on July 4; Samsung users who have the app will be able to unlock it three days earlier.

We've already got an Apple, a Blue Ivy, a Lincoln and a Tennessee, so why not a North?

After rumors that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West had continued the k-name Kardashian tradition and named their daughter
 Kaidence Donda, and others that claimed the name was actually Klementine Star (based on some domain name purchases), reports have surfaced that the super couple have settled on a simpler, more directional moniker.

Five days after the bouncing baby girl entered the world, US Weekly citing unnamed sources close to the couple, reported that the long-rumored name North is on the birth certificate, with no middle name.

The girl, born five weeks early, will reportedly be known as "Nori" for short. The name North had begun bubbling up in March, though Kardashian denied that it would be the child's name at the time, joking to Jay Leno, "I do like Easton, Easton West."

TMZ claimed to have a copy of the birth certificate verifying the name (though had not posted it at press time) though Kardashian's reps had not confirmed the name.

Online reaction to the latest unusual celebrity offspring name varied from surprise, to joy and, well, jokes, lots of jokes.

Comedian Pau Scheer ("The League") was out of the gate early, tweeting, "I'm going to name my 1st born South East so it will become mortal enemies with North West."

"The Mindy Project" co-star Ike Barinholtz also weighed in, writing, "Now that they have named their kid North West, Kim and Kanye have to move to Boise."

And the jokes ...

Even if you're only vaguely aware of the development phase of the movie business, chances are you've heard reports that endured a number of production problems, including some reshoots of its final act.

And although moviegoers will likely be unfazed by any of the on-set troubles by the time they get to theaters on Friday (June 21), the film's shift in focus from a global scale to something decidedly more intimate is impossible to miss. (Those who haven't seen the flick should be warned: mild spoilers ahead.) The filmmakers acknowledge that was intentional, even if they were forced to make that decision because of events outside of their control.

In "World War Z"'s climactic sequence, Brad Pitt's character infiltrates a medical facility looking for materials that may lead humankind to a cure for the worldwide zombie epidemic.

Director Marc Forster recently told MTV News that they opted to go in a quieter direction because they felt like they'd already accomplished what they set out to on a grand scale. "You know we originally we had this big battle there, but we had it already in Israel, so it's almost [like] you're repeating yourself again," he explained.

"I thought a more intimate, character-driven moment, and [Pitt] and the Z one-on-one is more interesting psychologically and emotionally than having a huge third-act set piece, because every movie, every big blockbuster does it, and I thought it would be better this way."

Damon Lindelof was one of two writers (along with Drew Goddard) brought in to give that "intimate" ending new life, so to speak. ...

Andrew W.K. may best be known as the party king, but now he can be called the king of something else: drumming.

During this year's O Music Awards' 24-hour "Live Music Day," which kicked off on Wednesday, W.K. spent the entire time drumming in an attempt to set a new world record.

After the arduous day came to a close, he was presented with a formal certificate for the Longest Drum Session in a Retail Store. (W.K. was posted up at the Oakley Store in Times Square for the duration of the drumathon.) MTV News caught up with the record holder to find out just how he got through it.

And while there was no shortage of protein bars or tacos (six hard shells, to be exact), W.K. insisted that it was the support of fellow guest drummers (some of whom included ?uestlove, Zac Hanson and Cuba Gooding Jr.), loved ones and fans that helped him endure.

But even with all the support from his peers, nothing could really prepare him for the range of emotion he felt. "Every emotion and every feeling from the most excited and happy to the most — I don't wanna ever say I was sad, but in severe pain — like real physical pain," he explained. "I didn't anticipate that at all."

"I actually never got tired because there was so much adrenaline and so many people that were especially giving so much energy. It really felt like a team effort," he said. That team included his wife, who massaged him during the final stretch.

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