6. Zombies Being Able To Swim
The film establishes very early on that the UN ship flotilla is like some sort of Shangri-La for refugees fleeing the zombie apocalypse. If youre on one of their ships, youre perfectly safe, because after all, zombies cant swim, right? Wrong. In World War Z all zombies can swim. Well, swim is a strong word they just sort of float around under the waves and let the tide drag their indestructible behinds about. But even then, they cant climb, right? Wrong again. The book specifically mentions that zombies climb up the chains of anchored ships, buoyed on by the waters force. In fact, sea-borne zombies become the biggest threat in the post-war world, because they keep washing up on beaches and attacking boats. Taking away this fundamental part of the narrative robs the film of the tension it desperately needs to maintain. Theres a reason why the plot loses momentum whenever the film cut back to the ship it takes away the sense of urgency which should be apparent at all levels of films in the zombie genre. Nowhere should be safe in a zombie apocalypse. In fact, thats kind of the whole point. Yet the film somehow makes out that ships are some sort of safe haven, that if you can make it on to one everything will be OK and the only thing youll have to worry about is resources. When the bean counters represent more of a threat than the walking dead, I dont think things have gone quite right.