It’s fitting that a rag-tag team of zombie killers are on an odyssey to an amusement park in Zombieland, since the creators are aiming for a thrill ride that leaves a smile on your face. For the most part, they succeed.
The “Zombieland” of the title isn’t the amusement park in question – that’s actually where they’ve heard they’ll be safe. “Zombieland” refers to America after a virus has infected nearly the entire population, leaving the country looking like a post-apocalyptic world. Amazingly, it’s a pretty funny post-apocalyptic world.
If you’ve seen any other zombie movie you know how this all goes. People infected with the virus become zombies – the walking dead. They hunger for the living, and once they take a good chunky bite out of someone, that victim becomes a zombie themselves. It’s been done, well, to death. We’ve seen everything from the gross-out metaphors of the George Romero Living Dead films to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. We’ve seen it as a comedy before in Shaun of the Dead. For director Ruben Fleischer to have a film that’s going to stand out among the bodies, he had to have something original. So he went for strong, funny characters portrayed by strong, funny actors.
The first is Jesse Eisenberg’s “Columbus” (in a nod to the past, the characters call each other by their former homes). He’s a shy dweeb who’s managed to survive because he was used to living without companionship anyway. He has a strict set of rules to live by in Zombieland (which are cleverly and creatively superimposed on the screen when we see his rules in practice). He’s a lot of fun as the anti-action hero who runs or fights as necessary. It’s essentially the same character he played in the similarly named Adventureland earlier this year.
His polar opposite is Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a redneck weapon-toting zombie slayer who just wants to find some left-behind Twinkies. It’s not a stretch for Harrelson – in many ways, Tallahassee is a for-laughs version of Mickey from Natural Born Killers, but his targets are zombies. It’s a fun kind of part we haven’t seen the talented character actor do in awhile. It’s a welcome return to the spotlight.
Columbus and Tallahassee eventually meet up with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), two pretty girls who are more formidable than they appear to be. Little Rock (the former Little Miss Sunshine) is ok, but it’s a real breakout role for Emma Stone. Stone’s a gifted character actor herself, having been hidden in makeup and costumes recently in The House Bunny and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. This could be a breakout part for her as she plays the tough, hot girl.
And then there’s one other member of the cast whose identity I won’t give away. It’s a funny extended cameo that movie fans will love. You may already know it if you’ve read up on Zombieland, but I didn’t: and I enjoyed the cameo all the more for it. It’s actually the funniest part of the movie.
That’s the key to Zombieland – it is absolutely a comedy. Horror fans will like it for its gross-out factor but should know it’s not non-stop action and gore like say a “Rob Zombie-land” movie might be. There’s even an extended portion with no zombies whatsoever that just focuses on the characters. The “thrill ride” part I mentioned is exciting though, and there are all kinds of funny ways that zombies get blown apart. Zombieland does go zombie-less a little long, but the characters are good enough that you forgive them.
CAST & CREW:
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin
Directed By: Ruben Fleischer
Written By: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
Produced By: Gavin Polone
PLOT:
Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has made a habit of running from what scares him. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) doesn't have fears. If he did, he'd kick their ever-living ass. In a world overrun by zombies, these two are perfectly evolved survivors. But now, they're about to stare down the most terrifying prospect of all: each other.
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