Fun but overrated

Rating: 7/10 (14 October 2009)

The trailer makes the film seem better than it is, ruining some of the best gags, but the film is entertaining and fun nevertheless. Zombieland has a very good start from the point of view of a young survivor who has created a bunch of rules for survival in this zombie-infested land. Those give us some of the best early moments as his no-nonsense sensible approach contrasts with the usual macho heroics or clueless stupidity of typical horror movie characters. Then he meets the proverbial reckless macho redneck zombie-killing machine, Woody Harelson in a very enjoyable and enthusiastic performance, and thus odd couple hijinks ensue. It seemed to me that the energy level and inspiration dipped down, with occasional upwards bumps, but never down to the ground of mediocrity, as time passed. A bit like a roller-coaster ride after the big first drop. That "drop" seems to happen a little after the meeting with the girls, roughly a third of the way through when zombies get scarcer.
The infamous cameo (hope nobody ruined it for you) is fun but not as great as some people might leave you to believe. However, it's eventually responsible for one of the biggest laughs so what do I know. I liked the characters, found them likeably imperfect and flawed sometimes even sweet, but I did find little Miss Sunshine (Abigail Breslin) shooting guns somewhat disturbing ;-) This film having zombies, you can expect some gore, mostly of the open mouth spewing blood variety, but the most extreme scenes are more farcical than horrific. As an horror comedy, Zombieland is quite good and should preferably be seen in a crowded theater or with a bunch of expressive friends. It's not as inspired, original or consistently funny as the recent Shaun of the Dead, Drag me to Hell or the more obscure Dance of the Dead but it's a worthy entry in this sub-genre of comedy. I've seen all of those in crowded theaters and there was more crowd reaction for these than for Zombieland who at the moment (at #147 of all-time best films on IMDb) is overrated.
Rating: 7 out of 10