Official Movies Trailer: Zombieland [Blu-ray]

Zombieland [Blu-ray] Review

"STAY ALIVE" So are the immortal words of Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) as he tells us how to survive the zombie apocalypse. In college when the zombies took over America, Columbus is now trying to make it back home to Ohio to see if his family is still alive when he runs into Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a man who excels at killing zombies and just wants a twinkie. In Tallahassee's search for a twinkie, they run across Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). With the new girls running the show, they all decide to head west to Pacific Playland, a place supposedly free of zombies.

When Shaun of the Dead came out in 2004, written by the guys behind Spaced (if you haven't seen that show, I highly recommend you check it out), it was a breath of fresh air. Recent spoof movies didn't now how to be cutting edge and funny at the same time, but Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg knew how to make an homage correctly. It was only a matter of time before Shaun of the Dead brought forth copy cats. If only all copy cats could be this good!

Zombieland is one of those rare instances where a movie comes out being nearly as good as the movie that inspired it. Like Shaun of the Dead, it can't really be said that Zombieland is truly a spoof as much as it is a comedy that involves zombies. This time they're not the slow moving zombies that inspired Shaun, but they're the fast moving zombies that we've seen more of in the remake of Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later. This is important because where Shaun of the Dead was a little more old school, Zombieland tries to give it's story more current flourishes like those seen in more recent indie movies. It gives the movie a nice original narrative feel, but at times can be slightly distracting.

The acting in this movie is superb. Despite the indie flavors of the movie, this film really helps break indie darlings Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin into the mainstream. Woody Harrelson, though, steals every scene of the movie he's in (with the exception of a brilliant cameo late in the second act of the movie that I'd rather not give away at this moment). Harrelson gives the movie a little bit of an old school hero flavor with his quiet hero, but also has something in his past that gives him a rounded out character to play.

While the movie is great, in the third act of the movie some of the characters make really bad decisions that propel the movie forward. Of course, this brings out the "damsel in distress" portion of the movie that seems to be seen in a lot of movie. It's unfortunate too, in a movie that does so well at being somewhat original in it's premise to nearly fall apart by lazy writing in it's final act.

All in all though, I'd highly recommend this movie. It's still surprisingly refreshing to see a movie that is genuinely funny while still paying great homage to it's predecessors. If you like zombie movies, dark humor, or Shaun of the Dead, you'll probably like this movie. Trust me, give it a shot!

4/5

Zombieland [Blu-ray] Overview

Nerdy college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has survived the plague that has turned mankind into flesh-devouring zombies because he’s scared of just about everything. Gun-toting, Twinkie-loving Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) has no fears. Together, they are about to stare down their most horrifying challenge yet: each other’s company. Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin co-star in this double-hitting, head-smashing comedy.

Zombieland [Blu-ray] Specifications

If there's been a zombie apocalypse and you're road-tripping alone though the wasteland, you could do worse than run into Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a bourbon-swilling bad-boy butt-kicker with a really cool car. This is where the careful hero of Zombieland, a kid nicknamed Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), finds himself early in the film, and you can hardly blame him for hitching a ride with this swaggering Alpha Male. Still, they have their hands full not only with gibbering zombies but also with two sisters (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin) who will stop at nothing to reach a Disneyland-like amusement park in L.A. Although Zombieland gets off to a rocky start with Columbus's overly-cute narration (he's got a list of rules for surviving in the zombie world), it settles into an amusing comedy, regularly interrupted by bouts of blood-letting. The road-trip stuff is enough fun that when the movie does arrive at its version of Disneyland, the air goes out of it a little; sure, there's a giant zombie blowout, with entrails flying, but it's not quite the same. Director Ruben Fleischer keeps the gags coming, although the movie is often funnier in its odd little asides (both Eisenberg and Harrelson are expert at this) than in its official jokes. Comic high point: an interlude at the home of a very famous movie star, who plays himself--and we'll leave the spoiler unspoiled, in case anybody hasn't heard about this funny extended cameo. --Robert Horton

Stills from Zombieland (Click for larger image)