First of all, it’s all-cards-on-the-table time. Zombieland is only the third zombie flick I’ve ever seen. I know, I know. I’m sorry. 28 days later and Shaun of the Dead are the other two. Not even one of the real “Dead” series. They’re on my Netflix queue and have been for quite some time. I just haven’t gotten around to them. Things come up, y’know? Wha’d’ya do? I also saw Planet Terror, but I’m nearly done blocking that from my memory so it doesn’t count. That all being said I got to go to an advance screening of this film, sat down with some popcorn and soda (as is appropriate) and thoroughly enjoyed Zombieland.
Before the film started, a gentleman, I’m assuming from the studio, got up in front of the theater, asked for our attention and told us we were one of the first audiences to see this film. He said that the film was incomplete and had imperfections that would be fixed before it gets released. I did notice some CGI that needed work, the color correction wasn’t finished, some night scenes were very grainy, and there may be some editing and music cues that will be fine-tuned. None of it was really distracting, but I am intrigued to see how different the final product will be. The CGI that was there looks like the computer jockeys were taking a page from the “Zack Snyder Style of Filming Violence” – extreme slow motion and blood that looks like cherry Jell-O. Even the opening credits’ style was nearly identical to what Snyder did in Watchmen, except that each vignette shows either a zombie kill or a zombie chase – all set to “Knights of Cydonia” by Muse. It is effective, so I don’t blame them for ripping it off. I am led to believe that zombies come in two flavors: fast and suh-low. The ones in this film are fast, sprinting at people and ripping them apart in gory ways, all while bodily fluids of all disgusting sorts spew from their gaping maws.
Our narrator (yes, there is heavy voiceover throughout the entire film and somewhere Robert McKee is shaking his head) is Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus. This being Jesse’s second “–land” film of the year, he is making a nice niche of being Michael Sera’s understudy. However, I prefer Eisenberg over Sera since Sera seems to be unable to get past an awkward stammering shtick. In this film Jesse does the unconfident shtick but he adds in personality – some heart and some guts added convincingly when the story calls for it. I see Eisenberg someday being Woody Allen’s alter ego in one of Allen’s films. When we meet him, Columbus is on his own as the zombie apocalypse has turned everyone he knows into a flesh-eating monster. Along the way, he has created 32 rules for staying alive. These rules get posted on the screen as they are used, often to very comic effect.
Before the film gets too far into Omega Man territory, Columbus meets Tallahassee. All the main characters are named for the cities they come from… or are heading to, it was unclear. This is supposed to keep them from getting too close to one another in case one of them gets bit and the rest need to put him away. Woody Harrelson, no doubt summoning Mikey Knox back up from where he lays, plays Tallahassee to Snake Plissken perfection. He is an unapologetic sociopathic badass with a heart of gold, played to the hilt, and he will go down in history with the best of them. Pure fun. As Columbus is being dragged on Tallahassee’s ongoing quest to find one more Twinkie to consume, they meet sisters, Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). There are many trust issues between the four survivors that threaten their wobbly alliance throughout the rest of the flick but the girls become the motives for the guys for the rest of the film.
This film is not a horror film – it’s a action/comedy in the Shaun of the Dead vein. On top of that, it’s a road trip and their destination is wherever they see hope on the horizon. Wichita and Little Rock are on their way to an amusement park near Los Angeles called Pacific Playland. It is a place that held good memories for them both and it becomes the main set piece for the finale. But before getting there they decide to crash in a Beverly Hills mansion they believe is unoccupied. This leads to one of the funniest parts of the film and one of the best cameos I’ve seen in a long time. I’ll say no more here, for to do so would spoil the fun. Suffice it to say this movie is filled with all sorts of pop references which may date the film, but which will not take anything away from it.
Zombies on film are often used as metaphors. From indictments of the Vietnam War, commentaries on the Civil Rights movement or critiques of our own consumer-based culture, zombies have been stand-ins for many many things. So what are the filmmakers trying to portray with the undead here? Thankfully, they obliterate any uncertainty in the last line of the film. “Without other people, you might as well be a zombie.” And with that they set up a sequel very nicely. If it comes, I’ll be there on opening weekend.
Rating: 
