The zombie movie that gives you a Woody!

Rating: 8/10 (14 December 2009)

From the hilarious opening scenes, in which its teenage loser protagonist Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) informs the viewer about his hard and fast rules for surviving a zombie ravaged Earth, it is evident that Zombieland is going to be a seriously fun ride, and the cool slow-mo credits sequence, depicting a variety of living dead mayhem to the strains of Metallica, only go to reinforce this fact (classic thrash metal and stylish zombie action: they sure know how to get my attention!).
The film follows anxiety-ridden nerd Columbus as he attempts to travel to Ohio to find his parents, teaming up with Twinkie-loving, hard-as-nails zombie killer Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) on the way; but when he meets and falls for pretty con-artist Wichita (gorgeous Emma Stone), who has serious trust issues and a younger sister to protect, Columbus' sense of self-preservation falls by the wayside and he realises that, to be truly happy, risks must be taken and that rules are for wimps.
With lots of stylish zombie slaying, bags of visual gags, plenty of slick gore (including CGI blood, unfortunately, but I guess that's just a sign of the times), a quite surreal moment midway featuring a surprise cameo from a well known comedy movie star, and an exciting, action-packed climax set amidst the attractions of a theme park, Zombieland provides solid wall-to-wall entertainment for zombie fans who enjoy a good laugh along with their graphic gut-munching.
No doubt people are going to refer to Shaun of the Dead when talking about Zombieland, since both films are zombie comedies featuring a dash of romance; but to compare the two films is pointless—Shaun's humour is so typically British and Zombieland so American in style that they actually bear very little resemblance to each other.
Let's just be content with saying that both films rock, but in their own unique way.