A zombie epidemic film played out on a global scale, World War Z successfully blends blockbuster girth, horror grit and action spectacular to create a solid new addition in the ever expanding zombie cannon.

Zombies are not real, but they certainly are a pop-culture phenom where anything and everything from books, to TV, to especially movies have taken to these brain munching creatures.

With so much zombie clutter, it’s nice to come across a different kind of zombie movie in World War Z where strong characters, a worldwide backdrop, modern day action thriller filmmaking and an emphasis on realism (at least as real as it can be) creates stakes that are palpable. If a zombie pandemic were to break out worldwide, this just might be the result.

World War Z also achieves something most blockbusters fail to accomplish, in its successful implementation of a personal story worth caring about amongst a large scale genre movie. It’s through the eyes of U.N. investigator  and family man Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) that we see the chaos and horror of a zombie epidemic turn the world on its head, as he travels the globe in search of a way to end the infestation, unwillingly leaving his family behind in an unpredictable situation.

The casting of Pitt (who also produces though his Plan B shingle) is a good one. An actor of box office clout and fine dramatic chops, Pitt plays both the concerned family man and reluctant hero with an authenticity that makes his Gerry an easily likeable and sympathetic character, yet one who just can’t seem to catch a break with every new destination during his pursuit for answers filled with dangers of the zombie kind.

Director Marc Foster (a multi-faceted filmmaker who features Quantum of Solace, Stranger Than Fiction and Monsters Ball in his credits) does a great job in bringing Max Brooks’ novel of the same name to life, especially in his depictions on panic in the streets and other action sequences that benefit from Foster’s shaky cam work. A scene featuring a mountain of zombie bodies toppling over one another in rabid pursuit for their next feed is a memorable one.

Foster brings a perfect balance to all of the elements found in World War Z. It’s scary yet not in a manipulative way, grim yet never overbearing in its bleakness, and juggles the intimate with the epic.

The worst thing about World War Z? The unnecessary post-conversion 3D. While the film has firmly survived the numerous reshoots and script problems that plagued its production, World War Z could not outrun the 3D infestation. How long until we are free from that epidemic?