Don't stray from the path and you'll be fine

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2013)

Although I claim that all zombie films are good, I would say this is a good film even if you disagree with my axiom. The recipe is known and doesn't stray much from what we've seen so many times before - but it's always enjoyable: zombie outbreak, hero leads a team in search of answers regarding its origin. The film plays it safe and focuses on having good action and a lot of suspense rather than try to have a deeper message or get smart, and it's probably for the best. Meanwhile, it avoids the clichés it needs to stay away from: fluke solutions, (too) bad science (like the "oh, we have a drop of blood from patient zero, the vaccine will be ready in 5 minutes" phenomenon), etc are fortunately absent. Brad Pitt has no difficulty pulling off a not too dramatically demanding role and the ending is open enough to satisfy everyone, after a somewhat anticlimactic last confrontation scene. Somewhere in between a few original ideas for the genre are carefully placed.
Finally, the film did leave me wondering about one thing. Even though there are some very impressive scenes (especially the ones in Jerusalem) where it makes the difference, is there a reason for a zombie film with such a huge budget, when wonders have been made with -small- fractions of this one's cost? But I suppose this is a question for the producers.