Zombieland exists in a post-apocalyptic world of the undead.
Play it safe and follow the rules. That’s how simple surviving in the land of the undead can be. Who knew it could be so hilarious too?
First-time director Ruben Fleischer has taken an overused genre and injected it with a flavor of offbeat comedy to create Zombieland, a twisted but enjoyable adventure through the post-apocalyptic world of the undead.
An abrupt opening throws the audiences right into Zombieland, where Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg, Adventureland) rattles off the rules for survival. To stay alive as the undead chase after you, cardio is essential — the fatties die first in Zombieland. And when you can’t run anymore, shooting a double tap is critical to make sure the undead are actually dead, because zombies don’t die easily.
Clinging to these rules and plenty more, the geeky, World of Warcraft-loving Columbus initiates a journey through a world where humans have turned into blood-gushing cannibals. With his reclusive personality, Columbus turns out to be the perfect candidate for making it through Zombieland alive. His compulsive behavior and phobias serve him well as he is able to steer clear from danger and navigate his way toward his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
Caution and fear seem to be the name of the game until Columbus meets a swashbuckling cowboy called Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson, The Messenger) because, um, he’s going to Tallahassee. Tallahassee serves as the perfect foil to Columbus’ character and is in charge of the ass-kicking business in Zombieland. Full of quirky one-liners and an incomprehensible preoccupation with Twinkies, Tallahassee possesses an idiosyncratic humor that endears him to the audience.
The comedy permeates throughout the film, but the plot inevitably loses steam once the two male protagonists meet up with two conniving sisters played by Emma Stone (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) and Abigail Breslin (My Sister’s Keeper). After a series of comic squabbles between them, the four survivors partner up reluctantly in the battle against the undead. What follows is a pathetic romance between the nerdy Eisenberg and bad-girl Stone, a trite message about enjoying the little things in life and enough comedy to keep the audience from groaning.
Although Fleischer makes an effort to create some sort of camaraderie or chemistry among the four survivors as they travel across the country in search of a zombie-free land, the attempt completely fails due to the shoddy character and plot development. Columbus and Tallahassee are solely caricatures constructed specifically to bring out the laughter while Stone and Breslin are simply there to fill up the space and somehow drive the plot to its conclusion. The overall plot is lacking in originality, serving only as a bare skeleton for the film to function.
But then Zombieland is not really about the characters and the story, nor is it about the horror. It’s a comedy first and foremost, and it uses the elements of horror movies to carry out its objective.
Despite the abundance of gore and violence, Zombieland is not the least bit scary. Every aspect of horror is mocked and, surprisingly, the bloodshed only squeezes out more laughs from the audiences, who may be surprised to find such morbid slapstick entertaining.
Perhaps the most amusing part of the film comes in the form of a cameo appearance by a well-known comedian — one of the rare laugh-out-loud moments only few comedies can offer.
Zombieland is not a great film, but it certainly has its funny moments. Fleischer, acknowledging the lack of a substantial plot, has utilized comedy to put audiences in the theater seats. There is no way the film can be taken seriously, and just when the characters try to be serious, deadpan humor intervenes and destroys the building tension.
Zombieland clearly surpasses the incredibly low expectations of a worn-out story line and delivers enough laughs to steer away attention from its flaws. While audiences may not remember Zombieland once its run in the theaters is over, it certainly will be able to entertain moviegoers for most of its 81-minute runtime.
sthaper@umd.edu
RATING: 2.5 stars out of 5
