Great

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2009)

The zombie/comedy sub-genre of a horror movie is an extremely daunting task for any film maker. Edgar Wright's 2004 blockbuster hit Shaun of the Dead set the standard for any director bold enough to attempt to tap into this intriguing sub-genre. Amazingly, Rueben Fleischer not only created a movie that surpassed these standards, he re-wrote the book on this sub-genre with his new movie Zombieland. Puke-inducing gore, laugh out loud comedy, gratuitous violence, hilarious celebrity cameos, and a little bit of romance make Zombieland a must see for every male or adventurous female this fall.
Zombieland is a world in which a brain rotting disease has infected all but five of the world's population, causing "zombies" to run rampant in search of food; preferably human flesh. Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), the protagonist, is an awkward shut-in that has managed to survive by following his own set of basic rules about avoiding zombie attacks. On his way to Columbus, Ohio to see if his parents have survived the attack, he meets a redneck (Woody Harrelson) who is given the name Tallahassee due to the fact that he is on his way there. The two unlikely characters join forces and start heading east in hopes of reaching an area untouched by the infection. Along the way, Tallahassee is compelled to stop at every convenience store in hopes of reaching his goal of finding a Twinkie in Zombieland. It is in one of these stores that they stumble upon Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin); two cunning sisters on their way to California that prove to be a lot of trouble for the duo.
Surprisingly, the humor in this film is much less slapstick than expected, and the character development is quite refreshing. Each character has a very unique sense of realism that is exceedingly difficult to express through a film such as this, and every ounce of humor comes from the nature of the character's themselves; this is especially true for the surprise celebrity cameo.
Columbus, the awkward protagonist, grew up living a life of solitude; usually spending his weekends playing World of War Craft and drinking Mt. Dew. When the zombie plague struck, he created a list of rules that he must follow in order to survive, and the film illustrates each of these rules in an amusing fashion at the introduction of the movie. He longs for the feeling of home, so he decides to head to Columbus, Ohio, hence the name that Tallahassee gives him, to see if his parents have survived the invasion.
Tallahassee, the over-bearing, ass-kicking redneck, was headed east to Tallahassee when he meets the protagonist. Contrary to Columbus's ideals, he stays alive by delivering a heavy dose of ass-whipping, while Columbus tries to live with minimal conflict with the zombies. Tallahassee is initially introduced as a very shallow character, but his depth is learned when he shares the loss of his "puppy" with the group. He has learned to keep his sanity by enjoying all the little things, such as the cars and guns they found. His mission throughout the film is to find a Twinkie, something that could remind him of home and a time that was much simpler.
Wichita, the trust no one, deceiving older sister, and Little Rock, the mature for her age twelve year old younger sister, were traveling to Pacific Play land, an amusement park in California, when they meet the two. Tallahassee had to stop at a grocery store to search for Twinkies and after they killed all the zombies, the two girls came out and convinced them that the younger sister had been bitten by a zombie. Wichita wanted to shoot her sister herself, and when they gave her the gun she turned on them and took their car and guns. They met up later when the girls managed to hijack their hummer that they found, and the four then travel together.
Overall, this film vastly exceeded my expectations. The humor was great for a movie in this genre, the character development was awesome for a movie of only 87 minutes, and the acting was superb. I had thought Shaun of the Dead had mastered this sub-genre, but the bar is now firmly set at Zombieland.