Article by: Derek Anderson
Zombieland (Sony, 2009) hit up theaters with a bloody bang Friday, drawing crowds of zombified fans looking for some undead action. Seeing the film on its midnight premiere, and judging by the crowds’ reactions, movie-goers got exactly what they were looking for.
The movie focuses around a young Michael Cera-esque boy (Jesse Eisenberg) named Columbus (all the characters in the film are named after the cities they come from). His list of survival tips and geeky habits are the driving force behind the movie as the audience is thrown directly into the apocalyptic world of Zombieland. There is barely an explanation of how the infection started, but it surprisingly worked, as the viewers see a world plunged into a flesh-eating hell. As the story progresses, Columbus meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a survivor who comes complete with one-liners and inventive undead killing moves.
Together they learn to deal with each other’s opposite takes on survival in a comedic bantering way. Further down the destroyed road of human civilization, other survivors come into the picture, including Witchita (Emma Stone), Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and the incredible Bill Murray (who, with hilarity, plays himself). The characters’ personalities work off one another brilliantly, serving an amazing combination of laughs, cringes, and of course, zombie-killing action.
The only thing lacking in this movie was not enough of a zombie slaughter. The killing that did occur was creative and funny, with competitions like “Zombie Kill of the Week,” but the fighting was spaced out a good deal within the survivors’ travels. But don’t let that push you away from seeing Zombieland, because the slight lack in zombie-killing is made up for by its comedy, and settings.
The multiple settings for Zombieland are one of the many great things included in the film. In the past, we’ve seen zombie films take place in houses, malls, and vehicles, but Zombieland offers something different. Throughout the duration of the film, the small group of survivors takes their battle to the roads, always moving to new locations. The change in settings and atmosphere keeps the audience on their toes, especially when the group stops by gas stations and grocery stores for seemingly stupid reasons. The versatility of setting was one of the many great pluses to the movie.
Filled with violence, blood and gore, this movie is not for the squeamish. This film had a healthy amount of bloodshed, romance and comedy to stand alongside the British zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead (Universal Pictures, 2004). Besides the slight lack in zombie violence, this film will definitely be on my shelf alongside other great zombie classics like the great George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (Image Ten, 1968) and Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive (Trimark Pictures, 1992), as Zombieland also offers laughs and scenes that even the undead would jump at.
