There's much to be impressed by in this film.

Rating: 8/10 (30 August 2013)

It seemed to be on the cards that this movie was not going to attempt to recreate Max Brooks' novel, so I'm surprised by how many people still seemed to expect a faithful rendition of that book. I was more interested in seeing if the movie-makers had found anything new to do with the undead; surely by now even the most ardent of zombie fans are sick of the slow, shambling corpses who lose pounds by the moment as whole chunks of them fall rotting to the ground.
The only real, significant innovation in the Zombie genre of late came, of course, from the UK, in the shape of "28 days later", with its depiction of the undead as vicious, hyperactive lunatics. World War Z's zombies have been wisely depicted in this manner, but this doesn't give the movie any points for originality.
However, the concept of how these creatures are seen to run amok is arrestingly unprecedented: In this movie, the endless hoards of the dead are so numerous and so wired that they form mountains as they scramble over each other, and then said mountains suddenly seem to become tidal waves that crash down onto towns. I found these scenes to be quite mind-blowing - especially those set in Jersualem, whose security measures prove to be disastrously inadequate.
Finally, I'd urge you not to pay much attention to those who are panning the performances, dialogue and plot as being feeble and lazy. They aren't. I think all of that is a case of sour grapes from those who feel betrayed by the fact that the movie wanders so far away from the philosophy of the source material.