Rating of
3/4
The ZomCom is Alive and Well Again
Chris Kavan - wrote on 10/08/09
After Shaun of the Dead and now Zombieland the ZomCom is alive and well and if further movies work out as well as these two, it could be a viable genre.
Here in Zombieland things are exactly as you would guess: the undead (or should I say virus-infected humans?) are pretty much the defacto rulers. Of course we have a few hardy humans surviviing - no fatties - they're the first to go - each with their own way to get by.
Columbus keeps a list: Cardio, Double Tap, Seatbelts, Bathrooms are Dangerous - which he uses to sruvive even though he is pretty much a spineless shut-in. Tallahassee is the kick-ass, zombie-killing machine who is comfortable killing with a car door or a banjo. Then you have Wichita and Little Rock, a couple of female grifters who even after humanity is destroyed aren't above using their wiles to get anything they want.
The casting is spot on - all four leads Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin look like they're having fun and play off each other well. The quirks (Harrelson is constantly looking for an elusive Hostess Twinkie) make the characters work. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when all four are driving and as each rotates as a driver you get to hear snippets of conversation whether it's Harrelson trying to explain Willie Nelson or Breslin trying to explain Hannah Montana. Just like the final rule says: Enjoy the Little Things.
Speaking of Little Things, Zombieland has perhaps the greatest cameo in the history of horror films. I'm not going to spoil it at all, other to say that when it comes, it will elevate the movie to another level. It is simply brilliant.
At a brisk 81 minutes, Zombieland offers only a brief time to get to know the characters. While they interact perfectly, you only get some broad background. But maybe that's better. Trying to flesh out the characters - such as the reason Harrelson hates zombies so much - almost brings the film down. In this case I think it's better we don't get a full background of each character.
My biggest complaint is that things seem to work too well for the characters. This is a post-apocalyptic world, yet every road seems to be clear, all the lights still work and, surprisingly, there don't seem to be that many zombies around. Except for the end, the threat of zombies seems pretty low. Sure, you have the gun on you 24-7, but it seems they only show up when our characters are expecting them to show up.
But I'm analyzing this too much. I don't think they're trying to create a realistic movie. This is all about having a little fun in a world overrun by the living dead. So I can cut the film a little slack.
