Zombieland

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Oct 032009
 

zombielandIf you listened to the latest Breachcast, you know that I proclaimed my love for Jennifer’s Body and stated that it was my favorite horror film of the year.  Well, that was a short lived proclamation.

Firing on all cylinders this weekend is the zombie/post apocalyptic film I’ve been waiting for.  Does Zombieland have a plot?  Barely.  Does it have loads of zombies getting shredded for 80 minutes?  Maybe not 80 minutes but at least 60 minutes of this film is just non-stop craziness with the undead.  So for the sake of plot, we get an absolute blast.  Besides, would you really want some bullshit about “a cure” ruining what turns out to be a coming of age flick with flesh eating drones?  That’s rhetorical, asshole!  Of course you want the coming of age crap!

Ah, the story.  Columbus (Michael Cera, uhhhh I mean Jesse Eisenberg)  finds himself heading home to Ohio after the zombie invasion has ruined his shit while attending UT Austin (lots of love for Texas in this flick).  Along the way, he runs into Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) who happens to love nothing more than killing zombies and chasing his holy grail (or classic MacGuffin), the last Twinkie earth has to offer.  As you probably know from the film’s previews, they also pick up a couple of sisters (Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone) and from there they decide to make their way to an amusement park in LA.  Why?  To give the younger girl the youth she never had.

I know the plot is hokey, but the characters really do make up for it.¬† Woody Harrelson is pretty damn likable in general, but here he‚Äôs just such a badass that you hope they make a video game centered around him slaying zombies so you can feel what it‚Äôs like to have such a mighty hog by proxy.¬† The female characters are very strong and for the most part command the journey as soon as they show up.¬† As is rather traditional with the horror genre, the male characters are much more feminine and display more emotion than the girls.¬† I won‚Äôt dare divulge Tallahassee’s hang ups, but Columbus is just a big ball of vagina.¬† He‚Äôs so awkward and openly admits that his seclusion in his life before ‚ÄúZ-Land‚Äù helped him prepare for the onslaught of isolation that he‚Äôs stuck with.¬† Although all the characters come out of this movie having learned something, his character has the most at stake throughout the whole flick and for that he has the more emphasized arc.

So do they try to over explain why everyone is a zombie?  There is a one line piece of a dialog that gives a brief mythology of what’s happening and that’s it.  As I touched on above, this movie isn’t about figuring out what’s happening or trying to fix the world.  This is a movie for zombie film fans, cut and dry.  I didn’t stumble in thinking this would be 28 Days Later.  I knew this was more of your Shaun of the Dead-type zombie flick.  If anything, it’s more about being human than analyzing the undead.  This helps to invest in the characters and you end up caring about their well being rather than whatever goals they might have.  Which is pretty damn cool if you think about it- you will like these characters even though you really have no idea where they might be in 10 years.  It simply doesn’t matter.

And the cherry on top is the humor.  I’ll warn you, if you have any desire to see this film DO NOT talk to anyone that has seen it nor check out the IMDB page.  There is a sequence about halfway through the film that really is a great surprise for any film geek.  You’ll think I’m being paid by Columbia, but I recommend seeing the movie as soon as you can because it’s only a matter of days before this sequence ends up in the TV Spots.  At any rate, the movie is balls out funny.  If you like Zombie humor, meet your new favorite horror comedy.  This is the blow job machine of the genre, folks.

If there is one blemish, it’s that a really nice money shot goes to complete shit.  There’s a sequence that involves a theme park ride (the Revolution if you’re a carney and familiar with such things) completely takes out three zombies during a climactic chase.  It literally looks like when the ride makes contact with them, the editor clicks on the zombies with his mouse and drags them off screen.  It’s weird, too because most of the zombies are just oozing blood constantly but in this shot, there’s nary a drop.  This is most disappointing because it’s in the trailer as well and I was looking forward to it.  Luckily it can’t possibly spoil the whole movie.

As I mentioned, this is the zombie flick I’ve been waiting for.  It doesn’t waste time with heavy handed messages, there’s some pretty classic kills, you’ll hurt it’s so funny, and Woody just kicks ass throughout.  I haven’t seen this weekend’s other horror film yet (Paranormal Activity) but I implore you to go see this movie with a large crowd.  We had a lot of fun and if you get a good crowd, you’re really in for a treat.

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