Zombieland (2009)
Theatrical Release Date: October 2, 2009
Dir: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Reviewed by: Dustin Hall
Photo Credit (below): Glen Wilson/Columbia Pictures

2009 appears to be the year of the noob director coming out of the woodwork and completely surprising everybody. Blomkamp did District 9, indie releases House of the Devil and Paranormal Activity have been getting floods of rave reviews from film festivals, even stuff like Pandorum, not a hit by any regards, but a highly polished feature for a director with one other film under his belt. Now with his first feature film Ruben Fleischer blows me away with Zombieland.

Inspired by Shaun of the Dead to create an American zombie-comedy, Fleischer made a movie that revels in its violence, gently prods at sexuality, and has a simple story and goal for its heroes. In the midst of the seemingly inevitable Zombie Apocalypse, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) teams up with unlikely friend Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), surviving in an undead riddled world, looking for purpose and, God willing, a truck full of Twinkies. After being conned out of their guns and ride by a pair of street-wise girls, Wichita and Little Rock (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin, respectively), the boys seek revenge, eventually form a rag-tag quartet of unlikely allies, and seek a legendary oasis free of zombies and with the added benefit of an amusement park.

One look at the trailer tells you just how zombie-free their destination turns out to be. Carnage ensues.

Now, other critics had beaten me to screening this, and I kept hearing either it has too much zombie in it to be taken seriously, or not nearly enough zombie. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I think it had just the right amount of zombie, and that’s part of what I loved about Zombieland. There are zombies all over the place at the beginning of the film. They are a necessary device to set up the end of the world. It’s destitute. It’s dangerous. When Tallahassee starts gunning the zombies down, it’s hilarious. Zombieland works hard to find new ways to massacre the undead remains of our friends and neighbors for our amusement. But midway through the zombies seem to disappear.

Zombies are faceless villains with no plot or dialogue or character. They don’t need a lot of screentime, you just have to know that they’re there. Look at Dawn of the Dead (Romero’s), how much of the film is actually spent just hanging out in the shopping mall? Even in Shaun of the Dead many great jokes are had at the zombies’ expense, but it’s the characters that drive the story, so Shaun and Ed cracking wise at the pub eats up a lot of screentime. For those who say there weren’t enough zombies in the movie I say this: it’s only following the classical pattern. Zombie movies are more about how people react in a world of danger and anarchy than anything else. And Zombieland makes the most of its sitcom cast, as they’re forced to band together for survival.

Columbus is your classic nerd, like Michael Cera after puberty ( I don’t care how old he is, it hasn’t hit yet), Tallahassee a violent machismo construct with a tragic past, and the girls a couple of con artists with trust issues and smart mouths. Watching the group argue about camping spots, fight over ammo, discuss the finer points of Ghostbusters (even acting out scenes) and the mystery of Hannah Montana are the highlights of the film, even over the awesome zombie slaughter. Its the enjoyment of watching the characters grow and discover each other, along with the inevitable sexual tension, that drew me in. It also makes the zombie war at the end more fun and suspenseful, which is something too many filmmakers forget.

Of course, perhaps more than any other element of Zombieland, it’s the surprise cameo by a Hollywood icon, as himself, that makes the film. Every scene with him is gold. If you don’t know who I’m talking about yet, I’m not going to spoil it for you. Trust me, its worth being surprised.

The blood and the splatter worked, the jokes worked, the characters all clicked. I had my misgivings, but Zombieland overcame all of the fears I had. This was no tepid movie, a string of endless zombie kills that would have eventually gotten stale. This is a character play that’s full of good one liners with brutal zombie mashing as icing on the cake. And it had my audience in stitches throughout.

I don’t know if it equals the sheer brilliance of Shaun of the Dead, and really what does, but Zombieland is worth viewing, and has a few moments worth clapping for. When you go into a movie expecting average at best, and find yourself suddenly applauding at the screen, its a special moment.

Brutal As Hell Rating: 4.5 out of 5