Zombieland (2009)

Many years ago, in that far away land of elementary school, I had a series of roughly a half dozen dreams of which I have never completely forgotten. These were dreams of survival in a zombie plagued wasteland, forced to fight in broken down buildings and ruined suburban streets against hordes of the undead with whatever random weaponry might suddenly appear. These dreams were never scary; instead, they were completely joyous.

The spirit of those childhood zombie dreams has been made manifest in Ruben Fleischer's new Zombieland, a gory adventure filled with gratuitous gunfire, gut-eating zombies, and a hell of a lot of fun.

Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is a young man who's learned to live by the rules. Always fire a second shot into a zombie to make sure it's down for good, always fasten your seat belt before taking a ride, and never, ever be a hero. These rules and many like them have worked well so far; he's one of the few survivors left after the zombie apocalypse and he's planning on keeping it that way. Things change when he hooks up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a gun-loving free spirit who cares little for laws, rules, or even general guidelines.

They manage fairly well until they meet two very clever young women, nicknamed Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), who proceed to grift them out of their guns and truck. After a brief series of chases and turn-abouts, the four begrudgingly decide to team up, and make way across the country together to what is hoped to be the one zombie free locale in the country - a California amusement park called Pacific Playland. On the way there is plenty of time for boy-meets-girl, brutal zombie massacring, and one highly entertaining cameo.

Zombieland is a simple film. It does not offer well developed characters, clever subtextual sociological or cultural commentary, or even a very strong plot. Where this film exceeds is in simply being fun; it is the spirit of the adventure, the means to the end, which makes this a product worth buying. While you might think that surviving in a zombie wasteland would be a slightly depressing experience, it's not so, as portrayed here. Instead, it is thrilling, an adrenaline rush, a land where the next convenience store, mini-mall, or knocked over Hostess truck might offer you your next grand adventure.

Likely the best term to describe Zombieland, and this term was suggested to me by the wonderful person I saw the film with, is whimsy; zombie whimsy, to be more accurate. It is fanciful and lighthearted, just as much as it is bloody, violent, and gory. It is not an accurate portrayal of true human behavior by any means, but instead is an almost dreamy scenario of fun-filled adventures amongst the undead. The sense of thrilling, good-natured fun is strongest in the frenetic times had on the roller coasters and rides of Pacific Playland, a high action sequence brilliantly executed and bloody as hell.

This whimsy, while being the film's main strength of entertainment, also injects hiccups in believability. Certain complications, that would certainly have arisen if these were "real" people, are casually ignored. It's hard to believe Tallahassee wouldn't have knocked the young and awkward Columbus, who is sort of a poor man's Michael Cera, right out of his shoes in order to have a shot at pretty young Wichita. Similarly, the fact that everyone these people once knew is dead is downplayed in order to promote the fun to be had fighting the undead apocalypse. These complications are sacrificed, somewhat conveniently, in order to promote the core spirit of the film - which is to have a damned good time.

There have been a number of zombie comedies, and only a few have managed to be truly memorable. Considering the rarity of success in this sub-sub-genre, it's difficult to resist comparing Zombieland, which certainly is a success, with the top venture of recent years. Shaun of the Dead is perhaps the most well received zom-com of all time (Return of the Living Dead fans may bicker), and I think it should remain so for the time being. Shaun of the Dead is the rare true horror comedy, in that it has real horror and despair in between the gags; Zombieland sidesteps these moments in order to continue having more laughs and fun. At best, Zombieland manages to be mildly poignant. Kicks and grins are a good time; however, the stronger emotions that Shaun of the Dead invoke make it, by far, the more powerful feature presentation.

A word or two needs to be said about something I rarely ever comment upon, and that is the opening montage of the credits. This montage was a string of contextual scenarios of zombie attacks in beautiful slow motion. Each scene is only a second or so of action, stretched out to take about 10 seconds. There's a Bond-esque shot of a man in a tuxedo, firing a machine gun, while a zombie rapidly approaches from behind; a scene of a zombie stripper, spitting blood and boobs wildly swinging, chasing a terrified former patron; and an awesome shot of a terrified young woman, her macchiato launched into the air, fleeing the clutches of the gruesome undead. These shots are simply gorgeous. They are stunning, especially with the sounds of Metallica thundering behind them. I wish they'd make 100 more and put out an hour long special of just these tiny vignettes. This film is definitely worth a trip to the theater; don't let it down.

Rating: (4 out of 5):