WORLD WAR Z (Rated PG-13)

The fact that “World War Z” is rated PG-13 may be more informative than the film’s advertising about the frightening aspects of a global zombie invasion.

Most zombie films are full of blood and gore. “World War Z,” directed by Marc Forster, relies on suspense and gnawing tension, as the zombie contagion spreads quickly into an almost irreversible apocalyptic demise of the Earth.

This is not George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead.” It’s not even what Quentin Tarantino would likely envision if he had the chance. The use of blood and gore is minimal.

The film opens with Brad Pitt’s Gerry Lane, a retired United Nations investigator and global troubleshooter, making breakfast for his wife Karen (Mireille Enos) and two young daughters.

The morning TV news talks about a rabies outbreak in some desolate region of the globe. Nothing appears to be completely out of the ordinary, but we are left waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop, and it does soon.

All hell breaks loose during the morning rush-hour drive in downtown Philadelphia, as Gerry chauffeurs his family. At first, police helicopters cruise above and motorcycle cops rush through the streets.

Then complete panic and havoc reigns, as cars are overturned and hordes of zombies chase down pedestrians and pull people from their cars. The transformation to the undead state takes only a matter of seconds.

Gerry’s experience with terrorism in global hotspots like Chechnya and Africa serves him well to get his family to temporary safety outside the city.

His former employers beseech him to join their efforts to battle the zombie plague. But first, there’s the terrifying matter of trying to reach a safe zone in Newark for a helicopter extraction.

Once onboard an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean, Gerry’s family is granted sanctuary as long as Gerry agrees to join a task force to hunt down the source of the contagion.

Now bearded and long-haired, Gerry looks more like a surfer than the savior of the human race. There’s no explanation as to why he’s the essential guy to do a job that would seem to require scientific or medical training.

Nevertheless, Gerry is immediately dispatched to an Army base in South Korea where it is suspected the outbreak began. Meanwhile, North Korea figured out a way to address the threat, one that would be a boon for dentures.

Apparently, zombies are stirred to action at the sound of the slightest bit of noise, and so Gerry barely makes it back on to his plane and safely out of Korea.

His next destination is Israel, a country that is faring well, for the moment, in the war against the undead, particularly in the walled city of Jerusalem.

In what looks like the siege of an ancient medieval city, the zombie attack on Jerusalem, where the sheer number of the undead allows a pyramid of bodies to breach the wall, is one of the film’s most chilling action pieces.

Gerry teams up with brave yet wounded female Israeli soldier Segen (Daniella Kertesz) to get to the airport, catching the last commercial flight out of a city that is rapidly falling into the clutches of the flesh-eating zombies.

With the help of his new colleague, Gerry is hoping to make it a remote World Health Organization facility, where reportedly a group of scientists have isolated themselves from other colleagues already infected.

The airplane ride turns out to be another exciting action piece, which is better left as a surprise. I will say, however, that riding first-class is a better idea than coach.

OK, a very implausible thing occurs, but Gerry and Segen, against all odds, make it to the WHO’s medical research facility, where the key to saving the human race may be found in a lab occupied by zombies.

The trick, of course, is for Gerry to figure out a way to sneak into an undead-infested facility to retrieve toxic substances that may, or may not, prove effective in repelling the zombies.

Interestingly, the film’s climax doesn’t fit the chaotic, action-filled sequences that came before, when the fight against the zombies involved plenty of brute force.

And yet, “World War Z” sustains its thrilling suspense to the very end. In fact, when Gerry inoculates himself and stares down a zombie madly clicking his teeth, it’s just as exciting.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.