Man Eat Man: Zombieland

Rating: Null/10 (8 October 2009)

Enter the word "Zombie" into the search engine of the Internet Movie Database and you're likely to yield results for everything from Night of the Living Dead to Zombie Prom. They've become more or less of a staple of the Horror genre since their subsequent invention by veteran movie director George Romero (Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead). For those of you who are still stuck in the Stone Age, you may be asking yourselves, "What exactly is a Zombie?" According to a loose definition from Answers.com, a "Zombie" is: A supernatural power or spell that according to voodoo belief can enter into and reanimate a corpse. Holy catfish! As you would presume, an outbreak of such an entity would be catastrophic! It would be the end of the human race as we know it! It would beZombieland.
Originally designed to invoke fear into audiences, more recently film executives have come to realize the potential for just how funny these damn things really are. It all began with Shaun of the Dead, a Dawn of the Dead rip off, that shed some light on the comedic value of the "living dead". Before long each and every Weinstein brother, cousin and nephew was in on the action and so rose the birth of "spin offs" (such as Fido about a young boy growing up in the fifties who has his own pet Zombie), so many in fact that audiences were beginning to experience that "Touristas" effect (you know, the one where you feel like gauging your eyes out if they decide to make one more movie about a bunch of teenagers taken captive on a deserted island). Along comes a trailer for Zombieland. Ugh. Not another one. Wait, but it stars Woody Harrelson? And that guy (Jesse Eisenberg) from The Education of Charlie Banks? And that really, really hot, no-name actress (Emma Stone) from Superbad?!?! And Abigail Breslin? This certainly can be no ordinary Zombie schlock film. That's because this IS no ordinary Zombie schlock film.
Zombieland's opening scenes draw you into a world where everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) has been transformed into flesh hungry corpses. With the speed and determination of Michael Phelps on his fourth lap, these things will stop at nothing to hunt down, corner and feed on the living. Sounds pretty gross huh? Zombieland is far from a gore free zone for the squeamish. In short, if the thought of seeing someone's intestines dug out from their stomach and eaten disgusts you, keep your ten dollars and put it toward the next Harry Potter remake. What separates Zombieland from its competitors is its excruciating originality. For all ninety minutes of the film you'll feel as if you've left reality behind. In this world you're the minority. In this world, there are rules, and you'll be taught to obey them and to utilize them if you'll have any chance of surviving through the end credit roll. With Columbus (Eisenberg) and Tallahassee (Harrelson) as your guides you'll learn quickly as you make your way through hordes of the undead in pursuit of intelligent life, as well as maybe a Twinkie or two (it'll click when you see it).
For all that Zombieland deservingly should have failed to be, this cinematic gem shines surpassingly bright. From pitch perfect acting by Woody and Jesse, to hilarious on the mark dialog from writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick delivered with gut busting clarity, they all serve to round out the pic to perfection. Rachel Kick's make-up artistry is a force to be reckoned with and manages to give famous horror make up Guru Tom Savini a run for his money. Rookie director Ruben Fleischer proves to have a superb handle on this material, a feat that only a true genre aficionado can dream of accomplishing, and does so with a seemingly playful hand.
I laughed. I jumped. I clapped at the conclusion. Zombieland was certainly the most fun I've had at the movies in a long, long time. Check it out, and on your drive home from the theater be sure to remember rule number 3, "Always check the backseat".