Zombieland

Zombieland (2009)

Director: Ruben Fleischer 

Writers: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, Amber Heard, Bill Murray

Synopsis:

Columbus (Eisenberg) is a shy and awkward student attending college in Texas when the zombie apocalypse grinds the world to a halt. Despite lacking in physical gifts, he manages to survive Zombieland by following 30 simple rules. While trying to get back north to his family, Columbus joins up with Tallahassee (Harelson), a twinkie-loving zombie-killer making his way to Florida. They soon encounter two sisters, Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Breslin), who are on their way to California to visit the amusement park Pacific Playland which is rumored to be the only place left in America zombie-free. So naturally, end of the world hijinks ensue.

First Impressions:

This film came out at the beginning of the zombie-craze that hit during the mid-to-late-naughties, which we're just now coming out of more than 10 years later. I've never been a huge fan of zombie movies, as most of them tend to lack a point other than survival. However, I saw this one in theaters because the trailers looked like a silly, irreverent take on the zombie movie genre, and it seemed pretty funny, much like Shaun of the Dead. I enjoyed the movie on that first viewing and got a few legitimate laughs out of it. It's not a film I watch often, but I think it's a solid entry in the horror-comedy genre. Nevertheless, it's been some years since I last watched it, so let's jump right in and see how it holds up.

Story/Direction: 

"The first rule of Zombieland: Cardio. When the zombie outbreak first hit, the first to go, for obvious reasons...were the fatties."

As mentioned above, most zombie movies don't have much of a point other than the protagonists trying not to get eaten. However, Zombieland makes a valiant effort to avoid this trope by tying each character with a place they're trying to get to. While Columbus' and Tallahassee's desired destinations are relatively weak story-wise, Wichita and Little Rock's quest to get to Pacific Playland in Los Angeles has a bit more heart to it. Wichita doesn't really believe that there are no zombies at the park, but she realizes that life in the zombie apocalypse is short. She wants to allow her little sister to be a kid again before they're inevitably torn apart by ravenous flesh eaters. But, of course, being a comedy, things aren't that simple, and all sorts of foolishness happen in the interim, making the journey that much more difficult.

One of the things I like about this movie was the style of comedy the filmmaker chose to use. Although it's easy for a comedy involving zombies to go full-bore into slapstick territory, this film has a distinctly dry wit to it as well, which was a pleasant surprise. Don't get me wrong, the film is chock-full of ridiculous zombie kills that'll tickle the funny bone, but I found the funniest parts of the movie to be in the interactions between the characters. This is probably one of the reasons I liked the film because it has a very dry, almost British-like sense of humor. 

The film also has a heart, and while the focus is (rightly so) on the zombie-killing hijinks, the characters have a depth to them that you don't often see in movies like this. Director Ruben Fleischer uses the flashback to give the audience some insight into the characters' lives before the outbreak and also uses voice-over narration from Columbus to provide much of the needed exposition. While I can go either way on voice-overs, I think it works really well here and is used frequently to ramp up the comedy by adding in graphical subtitles whenever Columbus lists one of his famous rules for survival. 

Acting/Characters:

This film has a minimal cast, with less than a half dozen speaking parts. Unfortunately, Jesse Eisenberg is one of those parts, but he's at least tolerable in this film. However, it's really Woody Harelson that steals the show here as Tallahassee. When we first meet the character, he appears as just a zombie-killing redneck with a hard-on for twinkies (just to clarify, I'm talking about the creme-filled snack cake). The character could come off as annoying in lesser hands, but Harelson injects him with his down-home charm, and he's easily the best part of the cast. 

I found Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin did fine jobs as Wichita and Little Rock, respectively.  I didn't care for the characters all that much, but that's not the actor's fault in this case as I felt the characters were a bit too predictable and honestly weren't all that funny. The film presents the two girls as con-artists who initially bilk Columbus and Tallahassee out of their vehicle and weapons. This is all fine and good, but their trust issues, particularly Wichita's, seem more plot-motivated than anything and don't really fit with the character presented, I don't think.

Visual Effects:

There's lots of blood, gore, and viscera to be found in Zombieland, which is obviously the focus of the visual effects. Much like other zombie movies, the blood and guts presented are clearly designed to look over the top, as one might find in a B-Movie. However, they fit the genre nicely, as one expects to see spurting blood and all manner of gore in a movie like this. 

The make-up effects, particularly the zombies, look decent enough. While the zombies in this film aren't the traditional undead-type, they look sufficiently menacing and rage-y, keeping with the film's established canon. 

Score/Soundtrack:

David Sardy composed the music for the film, although I can't think of any standout pieces of music from it for the life of me. However, some contemporary and classic tracks were thrown into the film, including Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica and Deulin' Banjos, which fit in nicely with the movie's overall feel. 

Action:

Pretty much all of the action in this film is focused on the killing or maiming of zombies. It's all done very tongue and cheek, and it's done well enough to elicit quite a few laughs. The filmmakers clearly took much glee when devising some neat ways to kill zombies, including hitting one with the door of a moving car, dropping a piano on one and smacking several of them into orbit with one of those pirate ship theme park rides. Overall, the action is done well and very satisfying despite the lack of tense action set pieces.

Final Verdict:

I still like this film. It tickles my funny bone and isn't overly long. It's a must-see for fans of the zombie genre and is an excellent option for a Haloween flick that keeps with the holiday theme without being overly scary.