Satisfyingly creepy.

Rating: 6/10 (24 June 2013)

The awfully-titled "World War Z" may give you the impression that it may be a kind of post- apocalyptic action escapade, but instead it is a smartly-packaged goody bag of thrills that delivers your money's worth at every turn. I always had a perception that zombies never work as proper villains in films, partly because they are limited to being laughably absurd objects that should be shot at and be done with, but director Mark Foster takes the cue and portrays them in a way that genuinely spooks us. The fascination for the exploration of the zombie genre hasn't satiated the appetite of those seeking to make sleazy horror getaways adequately as yet, but "World War Z", thankfully, is an alleviating addition to a vexing genre.
Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), a United Nations employee, finds himself trapped in a heavy traffic with his family. A few tense moments later, a horde of zombies attack them, forcing them to flee for safety. Unsure about that's going on, Gerry seeks refuge in a US Navy ship, and meets up with his former colleague Thierry. As his family finds a safe shelter in the ship, a naval commander tells Gerry to help out or take his family off the ship. Unwilling to sacrifice the safety of his family, he gives in and takes off to a military camp in South Korea, which was supposedly where the infection started. In South Korea, a former CIA operative, who is jailed on charges of treason, tells Gerry to head to Jerusalem because Israel had knowledge about the outbreak before it began. Narrowly escaping the zombies who invade the city, Gerry takes off on the last flight out and heads to WHO to find out if a vaccine is possible to prevent the zombies from attacking people. With Sergen, an Israeli soldier who had accompanied him around Jerusalem, Gerry lands in Cardiff to find a possible prevention for the spreading virus.
One of the few things that stand out are the impressively choreographed action sequences, which are as creepy as they are exciting. Take, for instance, the splendid sequence in which some Navy pilots have to make their way to an aircraft while trying to avoid zombies in the middle of a torrential downpour. The sequence, wickedly buffed to sleek perfection and striving on palpable tension, is explosive. There are a few sequences such as these which are scattered throughout the narrative, and it's hard to take a calming breath for even a second because the film doesn't let you. The tension mounts by the minute and Foster directs accordingly, working with urgency and patience that a thriller like this demands. The film's final revelation amounts to a finely-tuned crowd pleaser, and it does so with sneaky effect.
Besides the fantastic action sequences, the film is unapologetically tedious to watch, making use of every cliché the makers could lay their hands on, the most familiar being an ex-army man trying to find a cure for a rapidly-spreading virus. One of the costliest errs that a film can make is to let slip what's about to happen next, and that's where "World War Z" gets it all wrong. The plot is dispiritingly predictable, and the weakly-structured screenplay doesn't succeed at helping it trod through till the end, but the action sequences surmount most of the niggles I have with the film.
Of the performances, Brad Pitt is reliably excellent, and the only actor worth mentioning about. For an actor of his caliber, this must've been a cakewalk for him, I believe. The rest of the cast are either inferior or believable, and remain forsaken accessories when the film digs deeper in its quest to burn through the bag of thrills. Though the film relies heavily on the action sequences, the rest of the cast largely underwhelm in the dramatic scenes.
"World War Z" isn't a great film by any standard, but it remains a commendable addition to zombie genre because it has us going when it wants to. Though I don't dig very deep into the genre, the soaring tension gave me enough excitement to make it worthwhile.