Something new in an overloaded genre

Rating: 9/10 (30 August 2014)

Yeah, since they hit the mainstream zombie movies have died an (un)death many times over, and I can't help but hark back to the old days where only horror fans knew of the genius of George Romero and Lucio Fulci. Nowadays zombie movies are ten-a-penny and zombies are in the public consciousness alongside vampires and werewolves.
But WORLD WAR Z offers something new: the first, straight, big-budget zombie blockbuster. Sure, PLANET TERROR skirted with the premise but with a sci-fi twist, while this is straightforward zombie stuff. It's based on the terrible Max Brooks book of the same title, but don't let that put you off; unlike the book, it actually has a structured narrative, and characters.
And I loved it. I'm not normally a fan of CGI unless it's done right, but it's done right here. Scenes of the zombies attacking en masse are brilliantly conceived, and the set-piece that takes place in Israel in the middle of the movie is simply phenomenal. It's a film that also manages to be vicious and frightening without being gory, which is a fine achievement. If you thought the infected in 28 DAYS LATER moved fast then you haven't seen anything yet!
Sure, the characters are thinly-sketched, but that matters little as WORLD WAR Z follows an action-thriller template. Brad Pitt's lead is both the luckiest and unluckiest guy on the planet at the same time, and the film never deviates from getting up close and personal with its undead menace. The worst thing about it is Marc Forster's fuddled direction, something that also spoiled QUANTUM OF SOLACE, but it's not a big enough to detraction to stop this from being anything other than a solid film.