Oh zombies, when are you not entertaining? I love zombies, their quaint lack of life and the adorable way they hunger for the flesh and brains of the living, how can you go wrong? Okay well Fido doesn't count. Zombieland is a great comedic homage to the classic zombie flicks like Night of the Living Dead while also adapting to the modernized zombies of 28 Days/Weeks Later, and giving comedic hit Shawn of the Dead a run for its money.
The movie opens with the main character, who we only know as Columbus, as he's trying to get home to Columbus, Ohio... a state I know nothing about... honestly... *cough*... So in the zombie apocalypse, people simply use the title of where they're trying to go as their names, that way it keeps one another from getting too close in case a zombie headshot has to be someone's fate. Columbus runs down some of his rules for surviving the zombie outbreak and provides humourous visuals to going with his rules; Rule #1: Cardio, because the fatties are the first to go. Brilliant.
Very quickly into the movie we don't have to criticize Columbus for being an uncharismatic bore, as he addresses right off the bat that he is exactly that, with his Friday nights consisting of World of Warcraft and Mountain Dew. So to offset Columbus' lack of charisma and interest, we need someone to play his polar opposite.
Cue Woody Harrelson, who plays the good old boy, Tallahassee. Tal is your typical comedic relief/badass character but Woody just steals the show with his hilarious zombie-offing techniques.
To fill out the cast of main characters, we meet Wichita and Little Rock, a pair of sisters also trying to simply survive to their destination.
Wichita fills the mandatory eye candy quota of the movie, but actually seems to be a pretty good actress... and thought right away that she should really talk to Michael Bay about getting a gig with Transformers and relieving a certain no-talent diva of her duties *cough Megan Fox cough*
But I digress
The movie is divided well into the survivors battling zombies, and one another, as their self-preserving lack of trust keeps them from fully functioning as a team.
And yes this does lead to a social commentary, but it's handled surprisingly well for a brain-bashing comedy that you wouldn't expect much depth from.
In a few ways this movie surprised me a little, handling the few and far between touching and dramatic moments with just as much attention as the slapstick comedy that is 95% of this movie.
There's not really a whole lot to say about this movie, it's a straight forward zombie survival flick with comedic elements, but it's very well made. If you were to make a big screen adaptation of Left 4 Dead (my favourite XBox game by the by) then you pretty much have Zombieland.
It's pretty predictable, doesn't go much deeper than what you would expect of this movie, and the narrative is hardly cinematic gold, but it's still a very well made movie and a lot of fun to watch. If you like zombies, slapstick comedy or over the top action then by all means check this movie out, it's a fun romp through the what-if of a zombie apocalypse.
