Fun, Exciting and Surprisingly Bloodless

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2013)

"World War Z", despite involving zombies, plays more to the likes of a disaster film instead of a zombie film. It's more of like "2012" than "Resident Evil". We see shots of cities tumbling down to the rule of zombies and the world slowly turns into a zombie wasteland. The zombie attacks are large-scale, grand, and extremely exciting, save for the climax which ends up as a small-scale sequence, but is equally satisfying.
The hero is Gerry Lane, a retired United Nations investigator who is recruited by what is left of the U.S. government to assist a young virologist Dr. Fassbach in investigating the virus. He reluctantly accepts this task in exchange for his family to be able to shelter in a U.S. Navy vessel. After Fassbach dies (in a hilarious way) he is determined to stop this outbreak.
During their visit to Camp Humphreys in South Korea (where the word "zombie" was first used in reference to the outbreak) they learn that the zombies are attracted to sound. They also learn that Israel has established itself as a safe zone after it quarantined itself within a wall. Unaffected civilians, regardless of nationality, are allowed to enter. But due to the civilians singing loudly through a microphone, the zombies pile themselves up and manage to overcome the wall, and chaos ensues.
This the largest action sequence in the entire movie. The scale is so massive and this scene is extremely exciting. Millions of uninfected humans being chased around by millions of zombies. The chaos is just indescribable. Add in the fact that the zombies are mindless and uncivilized and the chaos just multiplies itself. But this scene isn't the only one. There's another one earlier back in Philadelphia where Gerry witnesses the zombies firsthand for the very first time. All the action sequences are highly entertaining, massive, but surprisingly bloodless (which is peculiar for a film with zombies). They're massive, except the climax, where it's noticeably smaller set in a WHO facility, but the tension is equally high, and allows more shocks.
Brad Pitt portrays the lead character, Gerry Lane. His character is devoid of personality here as most of the time, he's just involved in action. But Mr. Pitt delivers a performance that is quite pleasing. The rest of the cast gave good performances too and the acting shouldn't burden the whole movie experience.
The script isn't that bad too. It diverges significantly from the original book and it is a bit uneven, but the lines make sense. It also works because it contains a real plot for the script to follow through. It has a sensible plot and the script acknowledges this. It's also worth noting that it has several humorous scenes too.
It's far from perfect, it's heavy on action sequences, and it's uneven, but "World War Z" is an extremely fun ride for everyone to enjoy. I would also say that it's rather family-friendly as there are child characters that appear quite prominently. Another reason it's rather family-friendly is that it's bloodless. It has a real sensible plot (unlike most mindless movies containing zombies) and if you ignore the tiny faults and plot holes, "World War Z" will take you away on one of the most fun rides.
Rating: 7/10
Final Verdict: "World War Z" is uneven and far from perfect, but it's a fun and exhilarating ride that is more of a disaster film instead of the typical zombie film, and rather family- friendly.