Movie Review: Zombieland (Directed by Ruben Fleischer, 2009)

I absolutely love laughing at the sight of zombies being shot in the head, hit with a baseball bat, or taken out by a swift hit from a Hummer door. Therefore, I had a great time with Zombieland, the new comedy staring Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson.

Eisenberg plays a loner college student who has survived the ultimate Zombie apocalypse. America has been reduced, a la Cormac McCarthy, to a sad series of burned-out buildings, abandoned vehicles, and flesh-hungry former-humans running around like … well … zombies. Eisenberg has survived the zombie apocalypse by following a few simple rules. Along the way, he meets professional redneck-turned-zombie-killer Tallahassee (Harrelson). The two team up to not only kill as many zombies as possible, but also hopefully find some semblance of a home. Along the way, they meet twentyish Wichita (Emma Stone) and her 12-year old sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Their mission, if they choose to accept it, is to make it to L.A., where the two sisters will visit an amusement park they remember from their childhoods. Heck, at least they won’t have to wait in line very long to ride the wild rollercoaster.

If the above premise leaves you shrugging your shoulders and saying “why would I want to see a movie about killing zombies?” then this film is probably not for you. It is nothing but old-fashioned zombie fun. However, the filmmakers and actors do show more creativity and craft then you might initially expect from such exploitation fare. Yes, there’s a lot of zombie blood and gore, but not throughout the entire film. A good portion of the movie is simply a great “four people on a mission” story. The actors portray these characters sympathetically enough that we actually care about them by the end of the story. At the film’s conclusion, I was really hoping they didn’t get eaten by flesh-eating zombies.

I should also note that Zombieland contains one of the funniest cameo appearances by a major actor in any motion picture I have seen. I won’t ruin the surprise for you, or explain how the filmmakers set up the appearance. Let’s just say it’s worth the price of admission alone.

My recommendation is to see Zombieland. At the very least, you’ll be better prepared for the oncoming apocalypse. You might even want to take notes on Eisenberg’s “rules of zombie survival.” You never know when they might come in handy.