Today’s quick review: World War Z. Brad Pitt stars as Gerry Lane, a UN investigator who retired to spend time with his family. When a zombie virus pandemic leaves the US in ruins, Lane calls upon his UN contacts to evacuate his family to the safety of an aircraft carrier. In order to secure his family’s place on the ship, Lane agrees to escort a young virologist to South Korea to identify the believed source of the outbreak. Thus begins a globe-trotting search for a zombie vaccine that pits Lane against the most dangerous threat to humanity.
World War Z is a zombie outbreak movie that focuses on the scientific search for a cure in a world that has fallen apart. The plot is broken into three distinct sections, with relatively sound logic motivating the transitions between each. The human characters are just fallible enough to cause problems for Lane, but not incompetent to the point of annoyance. The accidents that happen are natural consequences of human imperfection and bad luck, and the survivors rally admirably and intelligently when they understand what is going on. The zombies have a real urgency to them, sprinting after their prey and throwing themselves headlong at any obstacles. This gives World War Z a sense of kinetic energy that other zombie movies miss out on.
World War Z is a solid zombie film with a competent, perceptive main character, plenty of zombie action, and a tone that flirts with but does not succumb to desperation. The details are not perfect, the story is winding, and the characters are not particularly deep, but World War Z manages to deliver an enjoyable experience while avoiding most of the pitfalls of the genre. Watch it if you enjoy zombie films, survival films with a healthy dose of action, or watching characters think their way out of situations. Skip it if the zombie genre holds little appeal for you or you are looking for a great movie rather than just a good one.
7.0 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 to 7.5 for solid execution, better-than-average plot logic, and satisfying action.