With the vampire pool dried up, this is a perfect time for a zombie movie. But not just any zombie movie, but a zomcom: a zombie movie which relies more on comedy and less on zombies, a comedy with a splash of horror. An action-horror-comedy where Shaun of the Dead meets Superbad, Zombieland is an instant cult classic.
Zombieland Proves that Zombies Can Be Fun
Shaun of the Dead proved zombies can be fun at the movies. Ridding one's self of ravenous walking corpses is an age old trick which has been taken up a notch by director Ruben Fleischer. The first-time director takes privilege in good storytelling with a dollop of horror thrown in. Zombieland proves zombies can be killed in a comedic fashion at the movies.
Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has always been a loner. Before the plague, he frequently would sit around his room playing World of Warcraft and drink Mountain Dew: Code Red with little contact to the outside world. After the plague, not much changed. He traveled the country alone setting rules along the way to avoid being killed by the zombies. When one is afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep them alive. Columbus teams up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a badass who takes pride in zombie killing and is in constant search for the one thing that will make his day: a Twinkie
The two eventually join forces with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), who have unique con-like ways of surviving the zombie mayhem, the four will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies. With every road film, there is a destination. The Griswold's to Walley World, Harold and Kumar to White Castle, the hobbits to Mordor. This fantastic four are heading to the theme park Pacific Playland in California, where the word is no zombies exist.
Zombieland’s affectionate banter between these four lost souls is what makes this film so great, and it’s a pleasure to watch them let their guards down. All four actors give stand-out performances. Harrelson with his no holds bar attitude, Eisenberg with his cautious demeanor, Stone with her “I like bad boys” position, and Breslin with her innocent charm and hope of getting to the promised land. A role like this for Harrelson could jump-start his career and give him more opportunities down the road.
Final Thoughts
The film is full of genuinely original filmmaking, like the rules that pop up during action sequences and the use of slow-motion during zombie chase sequences. Columbus's set of rules provide hilarious moments throughout the film. On the other hand, Tallahassee has no rules only being concerned with killing as many of those bloody-faced maniacs as possible and doing so in the most creative way he can think of: my personal favorite, banjo to the face.
