[Zombieland]
Plot:A mismatched pair of survivors find friendship and redemption in a world overrun by zombies.

Cast:Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Amber Heard, Mila Kunis, Abigail Breslin.

My Thoughts:Innovative piece of work.

Review:There's not much new that you can do with the zombie subgenre. Everything that can be thought of has been done pretty much at this point. But "Zombieland", Ruben Fleischer's apocalyptic zombie/comedy manages to do something entirely new with the zombie subgenre, and make it entertaining on most levels, all at the same time. The film follows a mismatched pair of survivors of a zombie apocalypse. A contaminated hamburger was the original source of the infection, which spread rapidly.

Now, the entire U.S. is the titular "Zombieland". With the exception of a few survivors, Jesse Eisenberg stars as Columbus, a hermit-type, who fears pretty much anything and everything. He has major trust issues with people, and pretty much for the most part, tries to avoid them. Yet at the same time, despite his short-comings, his attitude has allowed him to survive the zombie-apocalypse thus far. However now that the entire country has been overrun by the undead, Columbus sort of misses people in general. So he gathers some ammo and sets out to see if his parents are still alive in Ohio.

He soon runs into Tallahassee (Harrelson), who decides to let Columbus tag along with him since the two have survivorship in common. They then make their way through the zombie infested streets, and soon come across two more survivors, a sisterly team of Wichita (Stone), and Little Rock (Breslin). The four of them now have to iron out their own issues, while trying to stay alive in Zombieland. For getting along is now a matter of survival. "Zombieland" is a good movie because it doesn't just put itself out there as a movie where people shoot zombies over and over again.

It's story is deeply-rooted within it's characters. Columbus is a loner by nature, and so is Tallahassee. Only he's more of a prick-loner, while Columbus is a sarcastic, timid type of loner. Wichita and Little Rock meanwhile are a scammer team, and trusting them becomes difficult and close to impossible for Tallahasse and Columbus. In fact, the first meeting between Columbus and Tallahassee, and Wichita and Little Rock is the films funniest and best scene. When the four eventually do decide to join forces, after a few trials and tribulations, they of course have to fend off the undead who are everywhere pretty much.

The zombie kills scenes are another strong point of the movie, most of which are done in style, and are set up nicely enough to be memorable. This movie operates like a slasher movie would. Where most kills are unique and memorable, in this film, each time one of the four main characters offs a zombie, it's certainly a cinematically worthy moment, and comes off as funny, chuckle-worthy, cool, or all three. The blood and gore are substantial in the movie, but aren't the focal point of the films operating base.

It's really the characters, and their idiocecrencies and indifferences towards one another. The group doesn't really argue, as much as they banter with one another. And eventually, they come to appreciate one another in a certain aspect, whether it be sidekick, love interest, etc. Columbus and Wichita make up the love interest part of the story, a romance which begins when the two first meet, and is spurned on by Columbuses mentality change, as he evolves from a loner to a more people-friendly type of character considering the scenario at hand, and the people he's now trying to survive with. Woody Harrelson's character of Tallahassee steals the show though.

He does most of the zombie killing, and is on a strange quest for a twinkie. One of the movies running gags, which strangley and oddly enough works well enough not to come off as retarded or a waste of script and screen space. "Zombieland" does have a few flaws though. Harrelson's character can be over-bearing at times, and constant rules-to-surviving-zombieland popping up as words on the screen gets annoying by act 2. It's another one of the films running gags, but while it works at the start, it should've been retired a lot earlier than it was.

The movie does have some great visuals though, and if you're looking for another comedic scene beyond the first meeting between Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita, and Little Rock, look for a Bill Murray cameo near act three which ends just as funny as it begins. The movies finale is very strong, finally wrapping up some character loose ends, and also bridging a few story gaps along the way. "Zombieland" is a good movie which does some new and innovative things with the zombie subgenre. A difficult task, but as this film proves, not an impossible one.

Positives:Good acting by Eisenberg, Harrelson, Breslin, and Stone. An innovative approach to the A-typical zombie movie. Nice visuals, and some great comedic moments. Nasty-looking zombies as well.

Negatives:Harrelson's character can be overdone at times, and the rules popping up all the time on screen becomes annoying after awhile.

Overall:Three and a half out of four stars.





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