Director: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg & Emma Stone
A wonderfully amusing comedy finding plenty of humour in the zombie movie genre and is, perhaps, the American equivalent of Shaun of the Dead but with better zombie death scenes.
With Zombie films having become increasingly prominent within the horror genre again since 2002’s Resident Evil adaptation and UK thriller 28 Days Later then larger successes in the Dawn of the Dead remake and Shaun of the Dead in 2004 and even seeing George R. Romero, the father of the genre, return twice more to Zombie films in 2005 and 2008, it would seem that there is little left to mine in the Zombie genre. We have seen fast Zombies (Dawn of the Dead), Nazi Zombies (Dead Snow), Zombie romantic comedies (Shaun of the Dead) and more straightforward fare with a socio-political message (Land of the Dead) and now we have Zombieland. However, Zombieland exceeds at being incredibly entertaining by, rather than finding new takes on Zombies themselves, it looks to find the fun in the genre, the comedy and the result, while light on plot, is heavy with laughs and shocks.
Columbus (Eisenberg) is a Zombie outbreak survivor, having been reluctant to ever socialise whilst the world’s population was still amongst the living and incredibly paranoid, his anti-social attitude and fears have made him adept at surviving in this new world where letting your guard down could result in you becoming a meal for the undead. On his way back to his hometown in the hopes that his family may have survived, he crosses paths with a gun-toting, Zombie-killer named Tallahassee (Harrelson) who is every bit as reckless as Columbus is cautious. Allying themselves as they both travel in the same direction, Columbus finds some value in Tallahassee’s ability to find joy in killing Zombies and seeking confrontations. When the pair also fall afoul, then joining a pair of con-artist sisters named Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who are heading to an amusement park in Los Angeles where they believe there to be a haven for the living, the group bond despite their differences and despite the problems of living in a Zombieland.
Zombieland is a very funny film. Somehow finding fun in a scenario where the human race has largely been wiped out and reduced to food for the undead, Zombieland pokes fun at the genre without resorting to farce and features many action sequences that that glorifies killing (albeit of people who are already dead) that has rarely been seen since the 1980s. With two wonderfully conceived lead characters in the neurotic and nerdy Columbus and the macho, trigger happy Tallahassee and in the performances of Eisenberg and Harrelson in those roles, Zombieland has a wonderful buddy comedy feel. With Columbus narrating the film in a manner reminiscent to Woody Allen in a Woody Allen film, there is ample opportunity to poke fun at zombie and survivalist horror movies through Columbus’ rules to surviving in Zombieland given throughout the film with commentary on the consequences should the rules be ignored such as “Always check the back seat” and the “Double Tap.” The fun is not only in the narration or the witty banter of it’s characters throughout but also in some of the situations the characters find themselves in such as when they encounter a famous celebrity, playing himself, in Los Angeles and in the many inventive and hilarious ways in which the characters find to kill Zombies including an extended set piece at a theme park during the film’s finale that features a memorable method of Zombie killing every few minutes. Zombieland may be light on plot and lacking a real sense of danger but as fun as it is, it would be difficult to criticise the film for this.
Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson stand out in their roles as Columbus and Tallahassee. Eisenberg continues to develop his young Woody Allen routine which has made him popular on the independent film circuit whilst making it work towards establishing him as a believable survivor figure whilst Harrelson seems to relish the role of Tallahassee and the opportunity to play a near invincible Zombie killer yet demonstrating a childlike sense of awe at the enjoyment he receives from his work. Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin are very likeable as a pair of con-artist sisters who, while not as well-developed as Columbus or Tallahassee, are nevertheless believable at being smart and capable of surviving even without the aid of the men.
Overall, Zombieland is lots of fun. With great performances from all of it’s cast and an excellent celebrity cameo, featuring great dialogue, great gags at the expense of the Zombie genre and fun action sequences, Zombieland might lack emotional drama but it more than makes up for it by being hilarious.
Rating: 4/5
