FF2009: Zombieland

Columbus [Jesse Eisenberg] is headed East. A virus has broken out and wiped most of the population, turning them all into flesh eating zombies. Columbus keeps to himself, at first aware that his growing reclusive nature should worry him; he now understands that it has kept him alive to this point. He follows a set number of rules. There are things to do and not to do during a zombie holocaust. So he continues East, hoping to find his parents in Columbus, when Tallahassee [Woody Harrelson] roars onto the scene in a Cadillac Escalade complete with cow... er... zombiecatcher welded to the front of it and Dale Earnhardt's number 3 painted on the side. Tallahassee does two things and he does one of them well. He kills zombies. And, he hunts for the ever elusive Twinkie. For better and for worse they join together on this little road trip through Zombieland. No names. Just destinations and loaded shotguns. Things turn on their head when they come across Wichita [Emma Stone] and Little Rock [Abigail Breslin] two young, but seasoned, con artists who have used their experiences to stay alive. They're heading in the opposite direction; towards an amusement park they went to before the apocalypse. They trick the guys out of their truck and head off. The fellas give chase, allowing just enough time to spray paint another number 3 on the side of an abandoned Hummer.

Ruben Fleischer proves to be a capable enough director though there were a couple guffaws in the film. The opening title sequence alone is something to behold. If I do a little digging and find out that Fleischer didn't actually do the title sequences, like Snyder didn't in Watchmen, oh I will be so disappointed. Really, it is that good. As we're treated to a number of slow motion zombie killings the usual credits that appear at the beginning of a film get broken up. If even he didn't do the title sequence Fleischer has other good moments in the film and that likely comes out of his own understanding of what type of zombie film this is. More on that in a bit.

Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick packed their screenplay to overflowing with great laughs throughout the entire film. Seriously, this is a damned funny movie. Most of the one liners belong to Harrelson who chews them up and spits them out with uninhibited glee. Eisenberg proves equally able to deliver the jokes and though at first his cautious and neurotic take on Columbus gave off hints of Michael Cera he quickly changed my mind as his physical disposition separates himself from the latter. Stone is the unattainable hottie. The dream girl that all neurotic young men want to be with but never think is possible. But unlike say, Megan Fox, who could only run around screaming and jiggling in Transformers, Stone's got the better dream girl role, proving herself equally, if not more hot, and handles a pump action shotgun like all fanboys think they want to be handled. Breslin got the short end of the stick I thought. Such a capable young actress yet she is given very little to chew on. No, I am not pardoning the pun! She does okay, perhaps I just wished for too much from her role. The other three characters go through personal moments and growth yet she doesn't.

Zombieland has mass appeal as a ComZom. Yes, ComZom is intentional. The zombie holocaust is more or less just the backdrop to the real story about loneliness and relationships. Zombie fans will not be disappointed but they shouldn't be expectant. This is a comedy first, a zombie movie second. The reason for the outbreak is a sentence in Eisenberg's narration and that's it. There is no talk about how to kill a zombie, no concern with the mythos, unless you're a fat ass like me and as Eisenberg goes through his personal list of rules the first thing he mentions is that the heavy set crowd run out of breath first, literally. If you're going to get hung up on Zombielore you need to know now you're going to have to check that at the door. You'll have more than your share of zombie violence but it doesn't reach the lofty heights of the great zombie films. This is a comedy about relationships and belonging. It just happens to occur after the apocalypse and the undead are likely hiding in the third bathroom stall on the right.

Overall, Zombieland is a lot of fun and is chock full of great laughs from start to finish. It should appeal to a broader audience than a straight up zombie film will. It gives very worthy exposure Harrelson who has a couple good genre films under his belt near the end of this year. Eisenberg continues to grow on me and Miss Stone need not worry about herself. She is a beautiful young actress who has proven she can roll with the boys and handle a piece with the best of them.

There was some speculation about the mystery cameo role in the film when news first started coming out about Zombieland. I won't say much more about it except that it brings the film out of a bit of slump pace wise and is comedy fried gold. Just remember to stick around until the end of the credits for one more glimpse of comedy greatness as well. Worthy.

Zombieland plays one night only tomorrow night at the Paramount theatre here in Austin. Follow the link below for tickets.