The action starts pretty much right away in World War Z. There’s not much of a buildup when you see the first zombie in downtown Philadelphia - the mayhem begins and it keeps going at a steady pace until the end with not much of a chance for a breather. There might also not be much of a chance to think, which is what I suppose a lot of movies hope you won’t do, but World War Z is able to achieve that sense of urgency with the kind of action movie that lingers longer in your mind than say, the last Transformers movie. Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, The Kite Runner) directs this adaption of Max Brooks’ novel of the same name (piece of trivia here – Brooks is the son of director Mel Brooks and actress Anne Bancroft). I haven’t read the book before but from what I hear, the movie is only a rather loose adaptation so be forewarned, fans of the book.

Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is a former United Nations investigator that gets roped in by his former boss Thierry (Fana Mokoena) to go to South Korea with some U.S. Navy Seals to hunt down the source of this virus. These are not your Walking Dead zombies, scary and reviling enough as those might be – these zombies are faster and stronger than humans and when you get bitten, it’s only a matter of seconds or minutes before you turn. The search takes Gerry to several other locations as the epidemic has left virtually no corner of the earth unaffected. Meanwhile, there are lots of encounters with these monsters, many casualties and injuries along the way, and some big budget destruction action scenes. I was glad the film did not rely heavily on grandiose sweeping scenes of a post apocalyptic world overtaken by zombies or bombard the audience with excessive zombie close-ups. Sure there were some big CGI shots of the zombie masses, but in general, the viewer was able to get a sense of the human aspect of the disaster – how people cope, react, and demonstrate bravery under attack. Part of this is also due to the solid work by the cast (aside from our protagonist, mostly unknowns). Brad Pitt is convincing as the kind of man who knows how to think calmly under pressure. He’s almost too calm in fact – I mean, can anyone ever be prepared for zombies?! But he balances out the role when you see his softer side as the concerned husband and father willing to make sacrifices in order to find a cure for the human race. I won’t go into any further detail about the movie’s journey around the world, but there is a nice little twist in the plot (what’s a horror movie without one?) – it’s the kind that few action movies can pull of well but Forster manages to do quite nicely.

Recommendation: if you love zombies, it’s a no brainer. But even if you’re more of a vampire fan like me, this gives you a summer popcorn movie with surprisingly a little more substance.