Love it

Rating: 9/10 (29 November 2009)

"Zombieland" is such a fantastic ride, it is hard to find fault with it. The first five minutes with the opening sequence and credits set up the exact style of this film. You know right off the bat that it's funny, quirky, scary, gory, and a new bend on an old idea. It is a wonderful black comedy, so much so, that you will be hard pressed to predict moment after moment.
Seldom is violence so entertaining. Other than Nazis, zombies are the perfect enemy. They live, only to kill, completely devoid of any positive trait. So, watching shot after shot of zombies getting their comeuppance is satisfying on a colossal scale. The main characters (played by Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin) are constantly finding new ways to kill, dismember, squash, and destroy zombies. And watching it done has never been so enjoyable. Sure, at times the violence is for comedic effect, but elsewhere in the film it is used as a release from a genuinely tense chase scene.
Furthermore, this means the movie is genuinely scary. This is not just a hack remake of the same thing we have seen a thousand times before. This is fully new and inventive. From moments full of heart pounding tension to moments that make you jump, the movie does not disappoint. There were several audible gasps, screams, and guffaws from the audience throughout the film.
Also, seldom do you find a touching love story in a zombie movie. Since, zombies, by their very nature are thoughtless, irrational creatures that are void of any emotion other than rage; you would not expect any hint of a romantic storyline. Furthermore, most zombie movies are hell bent on inspiring fear. So, to find an emotion connected to a zombie film that is even remotely connected to an inspiring heartfelt one is almost absurd to imagine. Yet, they are able to create one here. I give total kudos to writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who so poignantly point out the true difference between the walking dead and us as humans. In a world where zombies live to destroy and kill, we as humans still live to connect and build.
Finally, it's nice to see Woody Harrelson back on the big screen in a role that allows him to play cocky, brutish, and stupid: three characteristics worthy of "Zombie Killer of the Week". Eisenberg also steps up his game, proving that he is equal to his more popular twin Michael Cera.
While some may say that the zombie genre is overdone, I say as long as there are new and inventive ways to kill zombies, I'll keep watching.