Rated R for horror violence/gore and language.
88 Minutes
Directed By: Ruben Fleishner
Written By: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
Staring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Amber Heard
You ever see a Lion limber up before it takes down a Gazelle? -Tallahassee
Review
For a person who doesn’t really have the stomach for a full on zombie movie especially when I become emotionally invested in the main characters,Zombieland is the exact kind of movie to appease all aspects of my horror, comedy, and compelling character desires all in one movie. It was unpredictable but at the same time comfortably uncomplicated. There are moments that will have you laughing hysterically, feeling slightly revolted, and even at moments touched, because believe it or not this “road trip” is just as much a “coming of age” flick as it is anything else. There are some genuine moments. Simply, this is a ride unlike any other you’ve ever been on at the movies before.
We are greeted by vibrant characters and a set of rules to survive Zombieland by. One of our characters embraces these rules and the other is the complete antithesis, but in a world gone undead, the likelihood of finding people just like yourself is pretty much not going to happen. Columbus, played by Jesse Eisenberg is not what you’d consider the most courageous of personalities, but in the current state of events, who could blame him? A world overcome by zombies could scare even your bravest man. However it doesn’t seem to have disrupted Tallahassee, played by Woody Harrelson, an AK-toting, zombie-slaying’ bad ass whose main goal in the zombie conquered world is to find the last Twinkie on earth. They join forces with two girls called Witchita and Little Rock and attempt to trek across the zombie ridden country together. P.S. The celeb cameo is worth the price of admission alone.
There is plenty of gore for the horror fans, but it’s not so overwhelming that someone who can only take so much wouldn’t be able to watch, but admittedlyevery time you get too comfortable there are moments that jump out and scare you, yet there is a cohesive translation between the humor, the scary, and the evolutions of the characters. And movie characters just don’t get much better than this. Tallahassee is brilliantly crazy, Columbus is sweet and tangible, and our sisters areunpredictably dynamic.
Zombieland is pretty much to the point. It doesn’t waste time explaining how the zombies came to be, and that was a breath of fresh air. It’s going to kick your ass, make you laugh, and maybe even scare you a little. Honestly, I can’t ask for much more when I go to the movies. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and without question a movie that will go on my DVD rack and be watched again and again. There is no way this movie is ever going to stop being entertaining. Zombieland totally rules.
I thought there could have been more gore in it actually but I don’t think that was the point of the movie. It’s a great buddy road trip comedy, has the best cameo ever and throws zombies in just to please my horror movie heart!
I didn’t really warm to the zombie genre until a few years ago when I finally got around to watching “Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead” and “Day of the Dead.” So I approached “Zombieland” with some hesitation, but it more than surpassed my expectations. What I love about the movie is that there’s plenty of gore — maybe not enough for hard-core gore lovers, but enough for the average viewer — and creative killings, but there also are characters we care about. Woody Harrelson, who functions wonderfully as the comic relief, has his moments, and it’s hard (for me, anyway) not to love Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus. His observations about the way the zombie apocalypse finally forced him to embrace life are way more astute and touching than they have a right to be … in a zombie movie.
Overall, I’d call this one of my favorite films of 2009. At the very least, it’s one of the most purely fun and entertaining ones.