Monday , March 18 2024
How much fun can one have at an amusement park? One dead zombie, two dead zombies, LOTS of dead zombies!

Movie Review: Zombieland

In the annals of zombie movies there’s definitely a broad spectrum of the good, the bad, and the ugly. It may not be my favorite sub-genre of horror but I do enjoy my fair share of the undead rising from the grave to munch on hapless passersby. Whether it be straight-out horror to the occasionally played as thriller to the outright loving spoof, there are a great many varieties when it comes to zombie films.

Over the last few years there have been a lot of zombie movies. Some of the better ones include: 2004’s Dawn of the Dead, the British goods Boy Eats Girl and Shaun of the Dead, Planet Terror, and of course the great duo 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. The independent market seems to be the place to find most of the more expendable flicks but there are way more in that department not worth mentioning..

This year has seen possibly only one other great horror film, Drag Me to Hell, but thankfully with Halloween fast approaching and October finally upon us we have at least one more film to be thankful for — Zombieland. This may be director Ruben Fleischer's first feature film, but in no way does it ever become apparent. With a fusion of Zack Snyder (lots of slow motion but never an overuse), some very black humor, a brilliant sense of self-awareness, and its finger brilliantly on the pulse of pop culture comes a splatacular little movie that quickly moves to the top of the best films of the year. Yes, even if it happens to be a zombie movie.

While this is Paul Wernick’s first outing as feature film writer, co-writer Rhett Reese has some surprising credits behind him – Cruel Intentions 3, and the kid films Clifford’s Really Big Movie, Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., and Disney’s Tarzan II and Dinosaurs. Not particularly the type of films to generate a hilariously balls-out, red Karo syrup-splattered, scare-filled zombie feature. But, just like the writing team behind Cats and Dogs’ Glen Ficarra and John Requa brought us Bad Santa, I guess everyone’s allowed to have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Jesse Eisenberg could be instantly played off as a Michael Cera wannabe if he wasn’t such an incredibly better actor. In his first few appearances, in The Village, Cursed, and The Squid and the Whale, he brought instantly likable characters to at least two instantly forgettable films. Last seen in Adventureland he now brings us a double feature year that should hopefully keep him prominently placed in lead roles after his hilariously endearing goofball turn here.

Woody Harrelson may be a bigger name than the rest of the cast but that has more to do with how long he’s been around. Playing a pair of sisters, Emma Stone (Superbad and The House Bunny) and Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine herself) bring on the funny as they outwit the mismatched, bickering odd couple of Eisenberg and Harrelson at every turn.

The world has been taken over by zombies. That’s the plain premise the film wastes no time explaining and moving on from. Columbus (Eisenberg) is seemingly the last man alive in Texas and is headed east in hopes of finding his family still alive. While walking a vacated highway he is picked up by Tallahassee (Harrelson) after a very quick Sergio Leone stand-off. Tallahassee is instantly annoyed by Columbus but appears to be very much in need of company to keep himself from going completely insane in an unpopulated world. After a hunt for Twinkies in a convenience store lands them getting car-jacked by Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Breslin) they serendipitously meet up again later and decide to join forces to head west to an abandoned amusement park where Wichita can let Little Rock have the chance to be a kid at least one more time.

Encounters are had and everyone gets their moment to be a hero as the cast hilariously marches towards the end of the runtime. Director Fleischer gives us a Speedy Gonzales breakneck pace and brings on the scary when the timing is right even if it happens to coincide with yet another hilarious line of dialogue.

The best part of the film is that it definitely will take a few viewings to catch all the spectacularly penned one-liners sprinkled throughout a very rare zombie movie that has its meat cake and gets to eat it too with a great amount of heart thrown into the mix for good measure. It’s not too big of a shock that this is being released so early into the month as I am sure that just like myself, everyone who sees it will have a great hunger to see it over and over again.

About Cinenerd

A Utah based writer, born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT for better and worse. Cinenerd has had an obsession with film his entire life, finally able to write about them since 2009, and the only thing he loves more are his wife and their two wiener dogs (Beatrix Kiddo and Pixar Animation). He is accredited with the Sundance Film Festival and a member of the Utah Film Critics Association.

Check Also

Danny Mondello in 'As We Know It' (Traffic City Productions)

Film Review: Zom-Rom-Com ‘As We Know It’

Three friends come face-to-face with the zombie apocalypse in Josh Monkarsh's comedy.