Double tap...

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2010)

This movie will draw obvious comparisons to 'Shaun of the Dead' because it was more-or-less the first commercially successful zombie/comedy movie. It's like all bands coming out of Ireland being compared to U2, due solely to popularity. Maybe they weren't the first or the best, but they had the most ticket sales and notoriety and that holds sway with casual fans.
Now, Shaun of the Dead is actually a great film with more subtle British humor, with some blatant gore thrown in for comedic effect. Zombieland has substantially more gory effects and that's just the opening credits.
In Zombieland, the zombies weren't much different than other cannibalistic ghouls you've seen in other incarnations, other than they were of the very fast-moving type. Wherein the characters in Shaun of the Dead's confrontations with the undead were done in self-defense, there was a cold, taunting meanness in Zombieland which to me seemed to hearken back to the the Night of the Living Dead series. This is not a criticism at all, because Woody Harrelson delivering a smashing head blow with a banjo is hilarious, it's just an observation. I don't harbor any sympathy towards zombies since they're just flesh-eating automatons that just happen to inhabit your grandmas, sisters, pastors, etc.'s body.
There is a lot more action than Shaun of the Dead, although not as much as in some of George A. Romero's works. It seems to have a pretty good balance between gore, humor and the human condition and the main characters have interesting back stories to boot. It was a very diverse cast, along with one cameo which came to be a big surprise to those of us who hadn't seen the film yet.
All in all a very good movie, but the blood spatter might turn some off who were hoping to see a purely humorous movie.