Genre: Horror/Comedy
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writers: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin
MPAA Rating: R (for horror, violence/ gore, and language)
Summary: Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies
Run time: 87 Minutes
[This Review Contains Spoilers]
Let me first say that I HATE zombies. They are the least fascinating supernatural creature and a general waste of imagination (though a lobotomized human might have come up with the idea in the first place). That said, the opportunity to see a film in which zombie killing is the entire focus didn’t require much arm twisting to get me to the theater. I’m locked and loaded, with an automatic firearm in one hand and my trusty ax in the other! “They will die a slow, slow”,…er… quick and fun death!
Zombieland follows a few remaining humans left in the States after a plague of a mutated mad-cow disease had turned the general population into zombies. These survivors are individually crafty in their own ways, but the central character is Columbus (they just refer to each other by where they’re from) and his 32 rules for successful zombie evasion and killing. This unassuming, twitchy kid meets up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) whose style is more like my own- zombie killing is a sport we savor! And hell he’s good at it, too. Muscle-bound and sweaty, Tallahassee kills them zombies in his quest for Twinkies. Why Twinkies?
Columbus and Tallahassee reluctantly team up with Little Rock and Wichita, two sisters making their way to a theme park out in Cali. Hmm… theme park and zombies? Never a good idea no matter how nostalgic you are!
I like these rules of zombie engagement. That this didn’t get picked up as a TV series is a great shame because the zombie kill-of-the-week would provide nearly endless entertainment one week after another. Some of the rules everyone knows (or should) like always double tap zombies to the head to make sure they’re down for good. Others I found more insightful like “avoid bathrooms” because for some reason zombies can sense when you are most vulnerable.
Zombieland was funny and there’s a worthy cameo by Bill Murray, playing himself, but even for a zombie hater, I thought they didn’t quite bring it home. For one, there just wasn’t enough zombie killing for me.
Well, dang…how much zombie killing do you need for a movie to be good? How about world-wide extinction of zombies! Or at least as many as you can kill in two hours of “Dead Rising” gameplay. Dead (double-tap dead) zombies give me great satisfaction, but a good action film needs a balance of select elements to make it a hit with me. For one thing, a good decapitation was lacking in this film (running over a zombie head in a vehicle doesn’t count).
Ultimately, this concept would have worked better in a serial format. It just didn’t have enough good kills to punctuate a feature film for me. They had the opportunity to be outrageous, but just didn’t go there.
Coincidentally, when I got home, I caught the “Fallen Idols” episode of “Supernatural” where Sam freakin’ chops off Paris Hilton’s head with an ax and THAT ended my evening perfectly. For Zombieland, it’s a fun and solid rental for me. I’ve go to give them props for great lines like Harrelson’s “Nut up or shut up!” though. Shoot, Tallahassee is who I’d have by my side in event of a zombie war!
I give “Zombieland” Three Out of Five Stars
