An excellent first half-hour loses steam in the middle section.

Rating: 7/10 (6 November 2010)

Zombieland is a movie with a great start that ultimately runs out of gas thanks to a plodding middle section, disappointing as it had the potential to be so much more than just another zombie movie lost amid a sea of recent other werewolf, vampire and zombie movies.
Disclosure: Zombie fans be warned, Zombieland includes running zombies! If this lack of true to label zombie purity scares or frightens you perhaps you should avoid this one. Although the fact is that as zombies are fictional creations they can do whatever the f*ck a writer or director tells them to do, and perhaps you should do something they can't and get a life.
Once again it seems the continental US is overrun by zombies, created by a mutation of mad cow disease - no doubt spread through slutty young Hollywood starlets banging rock stars and athletes who then passed it onto every groupie in the nation. That'd be the quickest way to do it I reckon, so any new virus that comes out from now on should be given a girl's name, like cyclones.
I hereby dub the Zombieland plague - the Hilton Virus.
Examples of the Hilton Virus are shown through the opening credits, three or four of the most memorable minutes in a credit sequence that I can remember. There is just something about slo-mo zombies in full flight tracking down a helpless victim, it's also why we watch with morbid fascination as the Lion catches the Gazelle, we don't want to see the kill itself, but we feel compelled to watch nonetheless.
Circle of Life.
The survivors of the initial onslaught are few and far between, and during the course of the movie they are referred to by their destination, therefore early on we meet Columbus, who acts as both star and narrator through the film.
Columbus continues on as a survivor by adhering to a series of hard and fast rules that he does not allow himself to stray from. An example is the "Double Tap" rule. Once a zombie has been shot there is always the chance that they are merely slowed down, and might still rise up again to pose a threat, a second bullet in the head does the trick and makes sure that this uncertainty doesn't come back to bite you, (literally).
A pretty nifty idea is that the rules appear on screen as described, and later on as they are repeatedly utilized, acting as an ongoing reminder that they generally work.
Columbus is cautious, methodical and chatty in a nervous and fidgety way, something that the next guy he runs into, Tallahassee, is not. Tallahassee is many things, including hard to spell. He is a redneck with a cowboy hat, big boots and a fondness for big cars, he shoots first and doesn't ask questions later. He is reckless, vicious and hair triggered, and suspicious and untrusting of strangers.
He also likes a sugary-bun sort of snack called Twinkies, so once Tallahassee decides to allow Columbus to tag along for a while, they go on an impromptu Twinkie hunt.
I feel I need to point out right now that this runs a ratio of around 70/30 comedy to gore/violence, meaning that it's far more a comedy than a straight action or traditional "Zombie" film like Dawn of the Dead etc. The gore is often used for comic effect or simply to illustrate a point.
Back to the Twinkie Hunt, Columbus and Tallahassee end up at a supermarket where they encounter two young girls, say 18 and 13 named Wichita and Little Rock. One appears infected, and after a humorous exchange it comes to light that our heroes have just been conned out of their arms and vehicle.
After a short time on foot they run into the girls once more, this time they decide to team up for a while as the girls describe the destination, a Disney style park called Pacific Playground in California rumoured to be the only zombie-free pocket on the West Coast.
The remainder of the movie follows them on their journey.
It is worth noting that in a movie in which there are really only four main characters (and one cameo that Woody obviously teed up), they fortunately managed to cast them with likable, credible actors, none of which have the presence to carry a film by themselves, but as a group they do a creditable job.

Jesse Eisenberg / The guy from Adventureland (He likes "Land" films I guess) low key and self deprecating, a good counterpoint to: - Woody Harrelson / Despite being a pot smoking hippie who was never blessed with matinée looks Woody is still a funny guy and he adds value here.

Emma Stone / Best known as the chick Jonah Hill was after in Superbad, Stone is spunky, witty and confident in a non-annoying way.

Abigail Breslin / Is also in the movie.

As mentioned earlier once the two pairs come across each other again and team up the movie loses its way for about 25 minutes, probably not coincidentally is that this happens to be the period between zombie encounters. In an 80 minute movie 25 minutes of lifeless (if you'll excuse the pun) inactivity between the "life-less activity" is inexcusable. (I swear that made sense as I wrote it.)
This is not one of the best films I have seen recently, (though overall it is still solid), but it was one of the more enjoyable.
Final Rating – 7 / 10. I know a "7" hardly screams "Watch THIS!" but I was let down after the great start to the film was allowed to go to waste, if you liked Shaun of the Dead you won't hate this.
If you liked this review (or even if you didn't) check out oneguyrambling.com