2009 October 03 « Entertainment Today and Beyond

Zombieland Review

zombieland_poster_0 Zombieland is a good old fashioned fun time at the movies and a solid entry in the over all canon of Zombie related films, a genre I’m obviously a big fan of. The story is set in the relatively near future where a virus has turned just about all of mankind into crazed, flesh eating zombies. We’re talking about the angry, fast moving, zombies of Zach Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake, not the slow bumblers of Romero’s original.

The film focuses in on two survivors, played with relish by Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson. Eisenberg (Adventureland) is the narrator, playing Columbus, a hypochondriac who has led an isolated lifestyle that enables him to survive the zombie outbreak that has been unleashed on the world. Eisenberg is a master of deadpan comedy and is a blast in this film. His stint on Conan O’Brien promoting this film was a classic appearance that had me buckled over laughing. His Columbus soon teams up with Tallahassee (Harrelson), a wacky redneck hillbilly who has an unnatural love of both guns and Twinkies and a hate for all things zombie. The two make for an odd pair but their chemistry is so good that the interplay becomes extremely entertaining and infectious. The two eventually run into a pair of fellow survivors, con artist sisters played by Emma Stone (Superbad) and Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine). Once these four collide they eventually form an unusual but fun family unit that are very likeable together.

Zombieland’s much talked about star cameo (taking place at a Beverly Hills mansion) coming at the 45 minute mark is as advertised. I would argue that it’s just so well thought out it may very well be the best use of a cameo in cinematic history. Perfectly executed, it exceeded my expectations and is worth the price of admission alone.

The movie’s last act which takes place at an Amusement park in California is faced paced, visually interesting stuff and I can’t think of a better place for Zombie mayhem than this location.

Overall Zombieland is a solid entertainment that is much more comedy than horror. There’s no real suspense or intense scares. Actually I never thought for a moment that our four lead characters were really in any life-threatening jeopardy. That’s not the film first time director Ruben Fleischer set out to make. This movie gets by on charm and it has that in spades. It’s mostly a road comedy with a post apocalyptic backdrop that has some really cool moments featuring flesh eating zombies. The zombie makeup, camera work and set design are all top notch and the movie never wears out its welcome at a streamlined 82 minute running time. FUN is the word of the day here. 4 zombies out of 5

October 3, 2009 Posted by Entertainment Today & Beyond | And Beyond - Trailers & News | 1 Comment