Summary: The zombie apocalypse has occurred and all you need to do to survive is follow the rules. Obsessively. And Purel helps. SPOILERS!
How do you spell awesome? If you guessed Z-O-M-B-I-E-L-A-N-D you would be dead wrong. It’s right there in the first sentence dummy. Zombieland is so much more than awesome, there are not even words to describe it; I lurve it.
I went in to Zombieland with some pretty high expectations and right off the bat I knew it would deliver. The opening scene where Columbus sets out his rules for survival in the zombie apocalypse is awesome and sets up the comedic aspects of the movie perfectly. This is followed by the opening credits, which are set to people being graphically killed by zombies in slow motion with the rules appearing to point out their errors. Highlights: woman neglects to wear seatbelt and flies through the window of her car, leaving a smear of blood as her face drags across the ground, and zombie stripper tassels. So that sets up the gruesome violence/comedy blend. Excellent.
At this point we get to learn about Columbus’ background. It turns out he was quite the socially challenged geek, spending most of his time avoiding people and playing World of Warcraft. Three cheers for WoWers! We have plenty of experience slaughtering the undead. Columbus is able to make his way through the world alone and eventually meets up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a zombie killing redneck. Best. Character. Ever. Well, at least in zombie movies. I suppose Charles Foster Kane is pretty good too. But he’d be better if he killed zombies with banjos. Tallahassee is the heart and soul of Zombieland – hilarious and brutal.
Moving on to the other characters: Wichita and Little Rock are sisters specializing in con jobs. After getting the best of Tallahassee and Columbus an embarrassing number of times, they pretty much decide to team up and head to an amusement park in LA. The middle section of the movie is pretty light on zombie kills, but the ones you get are doozies and the humour keeps you going. When they get to LA the viewer is treated to one of, if not the, best cameo of all time. I won’t say anything more, but it is awesome.
On the whole, it was the comedy that impressed me the most. I expected the movie to be funny mostly based on silly gore and zombie kills, but it was genuinely funny with genuinely witty, well-written dialogue. Who’d have guessed? Jesse Eisenberg’s role, unfortunately seems like it was written for Michael Cera, and at times is almost a Michael Cera impression. However, Eisenberg is still awesome and probably a better choice (I like Michael Cera but I’m not sure about his actual acting chops, whereas Eisenberg proved himself in Adventureland). At the time I had a criticism that I wanted to write about, but I no longer remember what it was, so it clearly was not important. Final though: get your ass to the theatre and check this out.
I went in to Zombieland with some pretty high expectations and right off the bat I knew it would deliver. The opening scene where Columbus sets out his rules for survival in the zombie apocalypse is awesome and sets up the comedic aspects of the movie perfectly. This is followed by the opening credits, which are set to people being graphically killed by zombies in slow motion with the rules appearing to point out their errors. Highlights: woman neglects to wear seatbelt and flies through the window of her car, leaving a smear of blood as her face drags across the ground, and zombie stripper tassels. So that sets up the gruesome violence/comedy blend. Excellent.
At this point we get to learn about Columbus’ background. It turns out he was quite the socially challenged geek, spending most of his time avoiding people and playing World of Warcraft. Three cheers for WoWers! We have plenty of experience slaughtering the undead. Columbus is able to make his way through the world alone and eventually meets up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a zombie killing redneck. Best. Character. Ever. Well, at least in zombie movies. I suppose Charles Foster Kane is pretty good too. But he’d be better if he killed zombies with banjos. Tallahassee is the heart and soul of Zombieland – hilarious and brutal.
Moving on to the other characters: Wichita and Little Rock are sisters specializing in con jobs. After getting the best of Tallahassee and Columbus an embarrassing number of times, they pretty much decide to team up and head to an amusement park in LA. The middle section of the movie is pretty light on zombie kills, but the ones you get are doozies and the humour keeps you going. When they get to LA the viewer is treated to one of, if not the, best cameo of all time. I won’t say anything more, but it is awesome.
On the whole, it was the comedy that impressed me the most. I expected the movie to be funny mostly based on silly gore and zombie kills, but it was genuinely funny with genuinely witty, well-written dialogue. Who’d have guessed? Jesse Eisenberg’s role, unfortunately seems like it was written for Michael Cera, and at times is almost a Michael Cera impression. However, Eisenberg is still awesome and probably a better choice (I like Michael Cera but I’m not sure about his actual acting chops, whereas Eisenberg proved himself in Adventureland). At the time I had a criticism that I wanted to write about, but I no longer remember what it was, so it clearly was not important. Final though: get your ass to the theatre and check this out.
A+
originally posted Oct. 6, 2009
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