Movies like this are the reason for summertime to exist. Sitting in the dark, in an air-conditioned theater and having my senses overloaded by a movie that holds together just long enough for me to get to the parking lot. ‘World War Z’ is relentless, in the best way.

If you spend a lot of time trying to tease out the illogical contrivances of the plot, or focusing on the spots where the CG looks a bit unfinished, you can cheat yourself out of a good time. It’s a fast zombie movie, with a medical procedural undergirding the main story. It’s the love child of ’28 Days Later’ and ‘Contagion’, and while it’s not as good a movie as either of its progenitors it has moments neither of them even aspired to.

If I have any real complaint, it’s that this movie should never have been forced into a PG-13. I understand the economic concerns that led to that decision, but having almost all of the zombie-human collisions happen just offscreen is a bit disappointing. However, if you’re squeamish that makes it the most accessible zombie apocalypse movie in a long time, so it’s like zombie Christmas for you.