Hey Review to Be Named-ers! I know it’s been a while but I’m back (for the time being anyways). This weird thing called school has been getting in the way of me posting but I’ll try to get back into the swing of things. Midterms don’t help. All right, enough of me complaining let’s talk zombies!
Ruben Fleischer’s new zombie-comedy Zombieland (yes, every genre exists) asks the question, what would you, the viewer who has seen a million zombie movies do in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Well Zombieland is about as close to answering that question as these films tend to get.
The film stars Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus (characters are only called by their home town as to not get too personal) your average high school kid looking to get laid and being a general shut it. When the zombie apocalypse hits (we don’t know how but who gives a fuck) Eisenberg is ready with clever rules he’s come up with to make sure he can survive. The film uses these rules in a creative way as they pop up as Jessie executes them or someone else doesn’t. My personal favorite is Rule Number 4-Double Tap. I’ll let you find out for yourself in the movie.
Columbus is joined by professional badass Tallahassee played by Woody Harrelson, who seems to be less concerned with zombies than he is with finding a twinkie. The two are later met by two junior con artists in Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). The plot of the movie may be thin (hint-get away from the Zombies!) but that’s not the point. This film was made for zombie fans and it delivers on the laughs, the gore and the guns.
Also it’s important to note that there is a cameo that is worth the price of admission alone. Regardless if someone accidentally spoiled who the cameo is, it doesn’t matter because it is taken in an unexpected and hilarious direction. I would recommend seeing Zombieland at a late night screening if at all possible. This movie just seemed to be made for screaming at the screen, laughing way to loud, and commenting on how awesome that gun is.
The film is not without faults. When they try to dip into sentimentality it feels a bit flat and just takes away from the mindless good time. While some may wonder why that’s not a good thing, it’s because the film gives you a taste for zombie blood and you just want more. Also in a movie that seems to pride itself on avoiding the big mistakes that are made during most zombie flicks there are some pretty serious zombie apocalypse fouls. But in the end, Eisenberg is awkwardly endearing, Harrelson is a bad mother fucker, and Emma Stone is nice to look at. Did I mention that there are lots of guns and zombies?
A-
Showing posts with label Zombieland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zombieland. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Jordan's Review: Zombieland
In your standard zombie movies, the characters are faced with multitudes of difficult issues. Monsters are being made out of their fellow men, those who are still human are likely raiding the planet for all the food and weaponry they can find, and apocalyptic bleakness pervades the atmosphere. This is not the case in Zombieland a hysterical riff on the standard zombie tropes that sees the fun in the slow extinction of mankind.
Columbus (played with charming unease by Jessie Eisenberg) is the overly cautious type, with a list of rules that have helped him avoid becoming one of the undead hordes that stalk the countryside. He is a loner by trade, and has no issues being by himself, until he runs across the gun-toting badass Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson, whose pitch-perfect timing never misses a step), whose obsession with Twinkies is only topped by his penchant for inventive ways of murdering the undead. The two are soon joined by a pair of hustling sisters (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin) and the newly formed gang decides to head to a supposedly zombie free amusement park near Los Angeles.
Along the way they learn a lot about the importance of family, how to enjoy the little things, how to perfectly utilize a celebrity cameo (whose identity I will not reveal so as to not spoil the surprise), and the best ways to kill hordes of the undead.
If you walk into Zombieland expecting a hilarious road comedy with some inventive and gruesome zombie deaths along the way, you will leave far from disappointed. The film steers entirely clear of many of the issues that might have felled its comedic outlook. The world is already so zombified its protagonists need not worry about other raiding parties or a shortage of food or ammunition. All they need to worry about is how to crack wise, and how best to kill masses of the undead.
Grade: B+
Columbus (played with charming unease by Jessie Eisenberg) is the overly cautious type, with a list of rules that have helped him avoid becoming one of the undead hordes that stalk the countryside. He is a loner by trade, and has no issues being by himself, until he runs across the gun-toting badass Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson, whose pitch-perfect timing never misses a step), whose obsession with Twinkies is only topped by his penchant for inventive ways of murdering the undead. The two are soon joined by a pair of hustling sisters (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin) and the newly formed gang decides to head to a supposedly zombie free amusement park near Los Angeles.
Along the way they learn a lot about the importance of family, how to enjoy the little things, how to perfectly utilize a celebrity cameo (whose identity I will not reveal so as to not spoil the surprise), and the best ways to kill hordes of the undead.
If you walk into Zombieland expecting a hilarious road comedy with some inventive and gruesome zombie deaths along the way, you will leave far from disappointed. The film steers entirely clear of many of the issues that might have felled its comedic outlook. The world is already so zombified its protagonists need not worry about other raiding parties or a shortage of food or ammunition. All they need to worry about is how to crack wise, and how best to kill masses of the undead.
Grade: B+
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