United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.
What we get is a collection of moderately violent action set-pieces untroubled by humour or broader coherence.
World War Z is not a brilliant addition to the zombie lore. But it's also not the shuffling mess it was rumoured to be. It's an attempt at large-scale seriousness in a genre that's frequently preposterous. It stumbles along on that intention.
Thankfully, it's solidly spectacular and – one moment of astonishingly crass product placement aside – far from a disaster.
Overall, there are certainly more things to like about this PG-oriented horror than to dislike. Mind you, it ends with the door open for a sequel; and that’s a fight they may not win.
You won’t see much in it that’s unfamiliar - it’s a zombie flick after all - but what you do see is capably managed and not without a jolt or two.
The last third is pretty solid, if generic, zombie horror; it’s unfortunately just stuck in a clunky mess of an attempted blockbuster.
It’s not dreadful, just inconsequential.
The real panic spreads in the cinema auditorium as we realise we've got two hours of dodgy acting and dull CGI work ahead, culminating in massed snoring in that Welsh lab.
This nightmarish travelogue is coy about gore, but it’s still an effective thrill-ride. If the sequel happens, let’s hope it delivers some actual combat.
World War Zzzzz.
The title they went for just begs reviewers to type the letter "z" a few more times at the end of it.
Amid all the tales of spiralling budgets and extensive reshoots, it's hard not to conclude that whatever heart the project may once have had has been bypassed, leaving a raggedy assortment of body parts; expensively assembled, but lacking a sustaining pulse.
In the end World War Z may be a blockbuster with more bite than brains, but it’s certainly not the disaster many were predicting.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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