zombieland

I originally caught Zombieland in the theatre at an advanced screening. I used to work in a comic shop, where we would get invites to previews all the time. They also sent us zombieland shirts and hats and hand sanitizer ("you want some purell?").


The dvd came out last week, and me and Sarah (my fiance, and recent convert to horror and exploitation movie fandom) watched my mom's rented copy.

The first time I saw this movie I went in annoyed. The movie blatantly lifts from the popular zombie survival guide by max brooks, and never makes a reference to it in the credits or in the movie.
The book is great and deserves a nod for influencing the writting in this movie. Though the rule thing doesn't take over the entire movie, it's there and it is inconceivable that the writers could make a zombie movie without being aware of this book.

So i went in with a little bad blood. And right out of the gate the rules started getting spouted, complete with a 3D graphic of each rule as it was being applied. I can see how this played up the humour and was trying to be clever, and maybe a little hip, but it didn't work for me at all, even upon my more forgiving second viewing. It made me feel like the authors think I'm and idiot who needs simple things explained to me as they happen. Though i know this isn't the intention and the writers where doing it for laughs, I still couldn't help but be annoyed by the whole rules thing.

Having said that, the opening credit sequence of this flick is awesome. Slow motion zombie action set to Metallica's For whom the bell tolls. It's a cinematic song, that should have been in a movie a long time ago, and works really well here as a quick, gorey set up for the zombie apocalypse.

Then you get introduced to the best Micheal Cera impersonator in the biz Jesse Eisenberg. Here he plays a socially awkward 20 something with OCD, which is exactly why he's survived the zombie apocalypse so well. From here we get the first glimpse of zombie action in the film when Eisenbergs sexy blonde neighbour busts into his house looking for shelter from crazy homeless guys who tried to bite her.
She turns into a zombie (shocker) and they have pretty awesome fight, complete with bathroom cleaner guzzling, and a toilet cover bashing to the face. Nice!

Then the zombie chick breaks her ankle in a nod to dawn of the dead, she walks on her severely pigeon toed apendage, dragging menacingly to colombus (eisenberg).

Then after the flashback to colombus' first zombie encounter, we meet Woody Harrelson, or as he's known in the flick, Talahasee. This guy is the best part of this movie, hands down. He has all the best lines, and kicks the shit out of the most zombies, and has the biggest character arc.

The banjo bit is great and the twinkie quest thing is also great.

Then here come the ladies, Emma Stone (jules in superbad) as Wichita, and Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, King Diamond) as Little Rock.

They do some good bad acting, and dupe the fellas out of there car and guns. Then they meet up again and the road movie aspect of this film really take off and the characters finally get to bond, instead of being annoyingly suspicious of eachother.

And also, we finally stop seeing the rules, and get a bit of a breather from Jesse Eisenbergs sometimes clever, often annoying voice over narration.

They finally make it to LA, where the girls are trying to get to Pacific play land, where theres supposed to be no zombies, and the movie's namesake comes into play.
First they make a pit stop, and one of the best didn't see it coming cameo's i have ever witnessed takes place. When i first saw this movie, I wasn't even close to being on board until this part. It felt like I was watching a dream I had where i met this actor during a zombie apocalypse ( I dream ive had many times, but usually with different actors) . I'm not going to spoil that part (though ive spoiled most of the rest of the flick) because it's just too good to see it for the first time without previous knowledge.

Also, this sequence involves another winning combination, pot smoke and blue oyster cult. At once hilariously goofy stereotyping, and awesome combination from my life on the screen.

Then they make it to the amusement park, shit goes down (of course) and it ends.

Its during this part that my geek sense kicks in and i get into yelling at the t.v. mode.

"Why the fuck are you turning on all those lights and rides?! its the zombie apocalypse , Jesus!"

Those bitches where CRAYZEE! but don't worry, the dudes come around to save them from the drop of doom ride. (which was a really good original gag, even for a zombie movie).

So overall this movie delivers the goods, though it has it's flaws. It's a genre/sub genre movie that has a lot of stiff competition (har har) sitting around with the likes of Shaun of the Dead, Dead Alive, and Evil Dead 2, so it was bound to struggle a little in living up to expectations. But it manages to hold it's own, at least in the second half, with some of the greats. I get the feeling this is horror for a younger or different demographic than mine though. The hardened genre fan gives way to the younger teen audience. For them, i can't see a better way to get inducted into the horror cannon than Zombieland, though keep an open mind if you're (like me) a long time fan of these films.


And as an aside gripe, whats with the lame-o chugging distorted guitar, shitty nu metal sounding bullshit music that comes in during chase scenes. Give me some fucking fast paced spooky synth god damn it! There's no dread or atmosphere in a boring recycled limp bizkit riff. Come on! What's goblin up to these days?