The closer we got to the release of Zombieland, the more excited I got. I kept reading positive buzz flying around the web (on places like Twitter), so much so that it was hard to ignore. I was able to avoid reading any reviews, keeping myself fresh for when I had the opportunity to see it. The big question created by all of the good word: is it possible? Could Zombieland be as good as all these people are saying? I entered that dark, chilly theater hoping that it was, wanting it to succeed.
Less than 90 minutes later I emerged from the theater. I had a grin plastered from ear to ear, a shirt littered with the remnants of a bag of popcorn, and I am pretty sure that any words that escaped my mouth were incoherent. Most of these details can be confirmed by the theater employees. Zombieland is utterly fantastic.
The film comes out firing on all cylinders and does not let up until its all-too-soon conclusion. There is a scant 80 minutes in this movie from opening frame to final credit, a fact that had me rather worried going in. It is not that a short movie cannot be good, but I was worried that it would not have enough time to develop properly (just look at the 79 minutes of 9). This film is not held back by its short run time; it still manages to cram in a ton of laughs and zombie action and still have room for genuine heart and character. Sure, they may be a little ridiculous, but they are real for this world, which is not meant to be ours. With those facts known, I still could deal with another 20 minutes or so of this universe, so I hope there is some sort of expanded version down the line.
I am not trying to suggest that this is a game changing sort of movie. What I am saying is that the director and writers have taken familiar elements and given them the spark of renewed life, thus creating a film that feels fresh and exciting.
Zombieland is set in the near future. There has been an outbreak of zombie-ism and there are very few people left in the world. One of those people still alive is Columbus (named, like the rest of the characters, for his city of origin), played by Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland). He is a nervous fellow who does not enjoy the presence of others. Who knew that his anti-social behavior would help him survive a zombie apocalypse?
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