2009 Review #41: Zombieland

Zombieland

Rated R
(horror violence/gore and language, with brief nudity)
1 hour 20 minutes

Storyline:
In the horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men and two women who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies...

Starring:
Woody Harrelson

Jesse Eisenberg

Emma Stone

Abigail Breslin

Critics Grade:
B+

My Grade:

A-

A lot of people have compared this film to the 2004 zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead but I think it's a bad comparison. OK yes, both are comedies about zombies, but to me they are two different films. Shaun of the Dead is essentially a borderline spoof comedy about zombie flicks. Zombieland is a straight forward comedy about a world taken over by zombies. This movie is basically the type of movie Shaun of the Dead was making fun of...am I making any sense?? Probably not. I loved Shaun of the Dead. IF we are having to compare both of these films, I say Shaun of the Dead wins my vote by a landslide. However Zombieland is no crappy movie by any stretch.

I think Zombieland is a pretty darn good and very entertaining flick. It's actually one of the better comedies I've seen this year (but I haven't seen a ton this year). They are not alike in anyway, but this movie is a much better comedy than The Invention of Lying (check out my review!). This one at least stays consistently funny and has a few genuine laugh out loud moments. The cast here works so well together as well, this cast makes sense. Story wise, there isn't much to to tell. Four strangers, who are the last humans on earth, meet each other and stick together to fight off the zombie Apocalypse while they try to survive each other.

So you don't have much of a screenplay here, at least nothing to extravagant. What we have here is a small, but incredibly entertaining main cast (and one awesome cameo) that drives this movie. We've seen this sort of thing a lot before, of course, but at least this film takes some fun risks that pay off. I'm so glad to see Woody Harrelson (Semi-Pro, No Country for Old Men) back in movies, that guy simply rocks! For me, he was the best part of this movie. Him and his damn Twinkies! He is great at playing that funny man that you kinda love to hate at times. Jesse Eisenberg (Advetureland) is becoming kinda big now eh? I didn't care for him all that much in Adventureland (what's with these "land" movies he's doing??), but he worked really well here! He was perfect for this movie, and his type of character was a good fit for this film. He was funny too, not so much in that other "land" movie. I also have to say how WEIRD it was to see cute little Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Signs) wielding a shotgun and shooting zombies...but I liked her in the movie. It was just creepy to see her like this.

I've seen and heard people asking if this movie is "scary" and I even saw a person in the audience covering their face during a scene. My answer is that no, of course this movie is not scary...it's a comedy for crying out loud! There are one or two jump scenes though, is that considered scary? For a movie about zombies, there isn't much zombie action. At least not consistent zombie action. But when they are on screen, it's awesome. Especially the ways some of them are killed. The car door to the zombie's face is great! The last major scene of the film contains the most zombies, and there are a lot of them. But the first 2 acts of the movie is more about the living characters. So no...it's not "scary". If anything, it's a fun kind of scary.

I do highly recommend this movie to people! It is a little violent...of course. There is a slow motion scene of a partially nude zombie woman. There are a few bad words here and there. So what I'm getting at...don't take the young kids to see it, it's not for them. Teenagers probably, but not the youngins. But this is just a super entertaining zombie comedy that I think anyone could completely enjoy! I did...very much so!