Zombieland – Movie Review
Zombieland is the first mainstream zombie movie to hit movie theatres, at least down here, in a long time. It was worth the wait. It’s a simple movie, which is odd because It’s not just a survival horror, nor is it Hollywood’s version of ‘Shaun of the Dead’. It’s funny, violent and attempts some sort of emotional payoff that doesnt quite land, but in the end its simple.
Right from the start you know this isn’ quite your average zombie movie but nor is it groundbreaking. It starts post outbreak at a time where America has already fallen apart. The United States, as the narrator puts it, is no more, now it’s Zombieland. The intro sequence in all its slow motion glory is one of the best I’ve seen all year and rates easily as memorable as Watchmen’s for me, if not quite for the same reasons.
It’s quite clearly a comedy but at the same time it maintains a firm grip on the gritty reality that is a Zombie Apocalypse. The zombies are great looking, in a dead and disgusting kind of way, and the world looks lived in or maybe died in. The budget was spent well in creating a realistic looking landscape and the zombies were among the best I’ve seen in film. However you are never going to be frightened by them, they may make you jump a little when they appear (or maybe that was just me…) but these zombies are never a real threat and that sadly takes away from some scenes that could have done with the tension.
The lead character, Jesse Eisenburg, whose name is never learnt but who is called Columbus (as that’s where he was born) narrates portions of the story, though this becomes less regular as more characters are added to the party. Overall I was impressed with him though at times he did strike me as a clone of the guy from Juno and Superbad.
The rest of the tiny cast were all equally impressive and the little girl who I last saw pole dancing in Little Miss Sunshine, Abigail Breslin, seems to have matured well so far. Her older sister was played well by Emma Stone and together with Woody Harrelson the main four characters are an interesting balance of attitude and direction. Their actions rarely feel unbelievable and even Bill Murray’s cameo was pulled off quite nicely. My only problem was with how his last scene played out and though it was the biggest issue I had with the movie; it remained a minor upset In the grand scheme of things. Though that being said if you were after deep character development … well why did you come to this movie?
In fact thats something i should probably explain, this is NOT a deep movie exploring the human condition in the face of adversity. This is a simple road trip/zombie comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously but doesn’t mind a bit of decapitation either. If you want a deep, dark apocalyptic movie look out for ‘The Road’ with Viggo Mortensen coming out early next year, if by dark you mean hillbillies who eat babies after the world falls apart.
Story wise while the premise is simple, four strangers each looking for something different heading in the same direction, its execution was pulled off without being too predictable, sure certain relationship developments could have been pulled from story writing 101 but in the end I did not quite see the ending coming. However the expected ending would probably had more emotional impact and the wrtiers could have made it a bit more serious quite easily if they wanted to. It is not a complex movie, this is not something to go see if you want a mind probing experience but it is well written and executed, the “Zombie Kill of the Week’s”, survival rules and flashbacks to the past are all sewn seamlessly into the movie and never felt out of place or overdone. It’s not overly soppy when it wants to be serious nor does it revert to dick jokes when it wants to be clever.
This is, for me at least, one of the best Zombie movie to hit the screens since the remake of Dawn of the Dead. While it isn’t Shaun of the Dead (nor should you expect it to be) I have a spot on my shelf for this even when it hits stores. The biggest problem was that it made me want the US version of Left 4 Dead 2 really badly but hey at least this movie didn’t get the blood cut out of it. Though it begs the question if I can go watch a zombie have its head caved in by a sledgehammer why the hell cant I sit down and press a button to do it myself? However this is neither the time nor the place for that rant. All in all I give this movie a Cool, it easily ranks as one of my favourite flicks of ’09, it’s not an Oscar contender but not every movie I go to needs to be for me to enjoy it. If you need it to be then perhaps give this a miss, but for some good fun that has more brain than some give it a shot.
Trailer
Have you seen Zombieland? Did it eat your brains and make you laugh? Sound off below in the comments.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
The Great Movie Never Made – Podcast Special
Slice Of Life – Book Review
Thirst – Podcast Review
From Paris With Love – CSW Podcast Review
I’m a Cyborg But That’s OK – Movie Review
Alice in Wonderland – Alternative Movie Review
Comic News Roundup – March 2010 – Week 1
TV News Roundup – March 2010 – Week 1
Film News Roundup – March 2010 – Week 1
The Top and Bottom 5 films of 2009 – A (Cool) Shite Poll
The (official unofficial) Top 5 Video Games of 2009!
Australia’s R18+ Discussion Paper and Submissions – The Great Debate
Separation City – Paul Middleditch Interview
Kick Ass: Aaron Johnson – Interview
Planet Hulk: Josh Fine – Interview
Star Chicks – Interview
Van Diemen’s Land: Jonathan auf der Heide – Interview
The Losers – Movie Trailer
Tron Legacy – Full Trailer
Iron Man 2 – Trailer 2
Legend of the Guardians – Movie Trailer
Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – TV Trailer
Just an extra note, Zombieland 2 is already in the works, though if that was already in a news post well my bad, im a bit behind