Zombieland – Horror Film Review

Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg Star in this Zombie Comedy

Sep 30, 2009

Zombieland is a zombie comedy that offers offbeat characters, quotable dialogue, inspired mayhem, and a warm heart that hasn't been ripped out of someone's chest.

A virus outbreak creates fast-moving zombies and most of humanity has been wiped out. A small group of survivors, humanity’s social misfits, form tenuous bonds while they search for safe haven. Along the way they become a kind of family, albeit a gun-toting, zombie-killing family, who learn that to play together – in an amusement park populated by zombies, naturally! – is to stay together.

Shaun of the Dead Meets National Lampoon’s Vacation in Fleischer’s Hybrid Road-Trip Zombie Comedy

Director Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland offers a consistently funny variant on the well-worn zombie genre. The film contains the prerequisite gore and blood-splattering confrontations – this is a film that earns its R rating – but screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese’s zombies aren’t as reflective of social anxieties as those of, say, George Romero. Instead, Zombieland’s focus and humor rests with the survivors, similar to Shaun of the Dead (2004) with which it will be compared, and the film even riffs on National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983). The result is perhaps the first road-trip zombie comedy.

Loners survive the outbreak, including Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a shy neurotic whose fears include public restrooms and clowns. Columbus has developed survival rules, introduced in the opening montage, that he follows fanatically. They range from the pragmatic (Cardio – outrunning zombies is the first rule of survival) to the idiosyncratic (Limber Up) to the philosophical (Don’t Be a Hero).

Columbus may be surviving but he’s not living until he meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), the crudely hilarious cowboy counterpart to Columbus’ genteel city-slicker. Tallahassee operates by his own set of rules, and his enthusiasm for killing zombies is matched only by his obsession with Twinkies. The two have little in common, except an aversion to interpersonal relationships, but travel together for safety. They then encounter siblings Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), who persuade the men to travel to California with them as they head to an amusement park that is, presumably, a zombie-free zone.

As with any road-trip movie, the detours are part of Zombieland’s fun. These include several scenes of the survival rules in action and a conversation about the zombie-kill-of-the-week. Flashbacks are wisely kept brief; the most time is given to Columbus’ romance with the girl next door, a relationship which validates his intimacy issues. A mystery cameo – no spoilers here – is delightfully absurd, and the actor makes an inspired exit just as the scene begins to drag.

The actors all give solid performances and enjoy an easy chemistry together. Building on his Adventureland (2009) persona, Eisenberg again plays an awkward, sensitive young man. Eisenberg’s voiceovers, delivered in a dry tone, amusingly capture Columbus’ isolation and his attempt to create an orderly world from the chaos. His deadpan or nonplussed responses to Tallahassee nicely ground his “odd couple” exchanges with Harrelson.

Stone is enjoyable as Wichita, especially charming when cutting loose with Tallahassee, although she’s given the thankless duties of playing protective big sister and Columbus’ love interest in a predictable romantic-comedy subplot. Breslin, whose quirky tweens in Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and (500) Days of Summer (2009) established her niche, enjoys the stronger role. She gives a subtle performance without straying into precociousness, and the scenes between Little Rock and Tallahassee are nicely underplayed.

But Zombieland’s biggest laughs and strongest performance rest with Harrelson, who swaggers away with the film. Harrelson plays Tallahassee just straight enough, letting laughs develop from his carpe diem approach to killing zombies. This behavior sells Tallahassee’s mantra “gotta enjoy the little things,” including big guns and bigger trucks, zombie taunting, and Hollywood movies. Harrelson brings sincerity to the film’s rare serious moments, ensuring Tallahassee becomes more than another two-dimensional tough guy.

As predicted by the film’s title, the road trip ends at an amusement park where zombies attack the survivors. Visiting the park, with its noise and bright lights, seems an odd narrative choice that would guarantee unwanted zombie attention. Set aside logic, though, and the destination fits the film’s comic tone and message about living in the moment. Without providing details, it’s safe to say that this park’s attractions are more dangerously thrilling than usual.

With its focus on human relationships rather than the threat of zombies, Zombieland is funnier than frightening, and deliberately so. Although the plot is slight and the characters’ outcomes never in doubt, the film’s many joys are made up of the little things Tallahassee would appreciate: offbeat characters, great dialogue, and the adrenaline rush of mass zombie killings. Zombieland provides a light-hearted journey through familiar undead territory.

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