Director: Rubin Fleischer
Released: 2009
Labels: Comedy|Zombie|2000's
A young man, known as 'Columbus' (Jesse Eisenberg) survives a zombie holocaust and sets about making a journey across states to get to his parents' home in Ohio. He puts his survival down to a set of rules that he lives by in order to stay safe (see list of examples below). Along the way he teams up with 'Tallahassee' (played by Woody Harrelson), a gun-toting hard-ass heading to Florida. This mis-matched couple bond and travel along together using their very different approaches to survival. Soon they run into a young woman, 'Witchita' (Emma Stone) and her younger sister, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). They too have a survival technique which involves conning our two male heroes out of their ride and guns! The girls have heard that there is an amusement park in LA that is zombie free and that is where they are headed. After some more path-crossing, the four decide to stick together and end up at the girls' chosen destination only to find that a bloody battle awaits them.
Zombieland Rules of Survival
1. Cardio
2. Beware of bathrooms
3. Wear seatbelts
4. Double tap
6. Cast iron skillet
7. Travel light
8. Get a kickass partner
12. Bounty paper towels
15. Bowling ball
17. Don't be a hero
18. Limber up
21. Avoid strip clubs
22. When in doubt, know your way out
29. The buddy system
31. Check the back seat
32. Enjoy the little things
33. Swiss army knife
34. Clean socks
48. Hygiene
49. Always have backup
Zombieland is an absolutely brilliant take on the Zombie genre. Of course comedy in zombie movies is nothing new, (Shaun of the Dead instantly springs to mind, as well as the new movie Deadheads and let's not forget the shuffling Mall-Zombies going about their business in George A Romero's Dawn of the Dead), but this film stands out because of the fast-paced directing style (Ruben Fleischer), some incredibly well-written dialogue (Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick) and top-notch acting from all the leads. The action is suitably slick, especially good is the slow-mo opening titles. The SFX make-up is first rate and the movie makes good use of the CGI blood splattering that seems to be the norm for modern horror. They have made the un-dead the fast moving kind, which does still bother some fans of zombie movies, but in Zombieland it is entirely fitting as the action relies on sudden surprises and snappy chase scenes.
The film is made up of a series of mini episodes and is interspersed with flashbacks and back-story explanations which engages you with the characters so that you really do care what happens to them. Also there is an on-going commentary from "Columbus" as he tries to make sense of the situations he find himself in and this also gives you explanations as to why his "rules" are in place.
Zombieland is absolutely full of moments that you will want to tell your friends about, not least is the best mystery cameo performance you will see for a very long time! (we won't spoil the surprise here). Also look out for the scary clowns, Twinkies, 'zombie kill of the week' and great use of a banjo!
Although not scary, Zombieland is packed with gore (oh yes, these Zombies bleed..... a lot!) and is as funny as you could ask for. So "Nut Up Or Shut Up" and rent yourself a copy.
Oh and P.S....Rumor has it that Zombieland 2 is "in development" :)
Zombieland Theatrical Trailer
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