Reviews & Previews - Zombieland

Posted on Sunday, October 04, 2009 at 06:00 PM

Zombieland

By: S. Tran

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Directed By: Ruben Fleischer
Running Time: 80 minutes
Rated: R

Need Braaaiiiinnsss

Zombieland had such potential and starts off with a smart premise. Too bad the writers ran out of ideas midway through and started digging through the left over zombie movie scripts for a way out.

The film stars Eisenberg as Columbus, one of the last people on earth after everyone else has been eaten by, or turned into, crazy zombies. As he explains in voice overs, the key to surviving zombies is to follow certain rules, of which #1 is maintaining good cardio so you don't get tired fleeing for your life.

The first half of of the movie is easily the best as Columbus meets Tallahassee (Harrelson). Don't worry, the characters' names will make sense when you see the movie. As the two survivors travel across the country the film is a pretty funny zombie movie that pokes fun of the genre. If the story had continued this way I think the movie would have been a lot better served.

Unfortunately, the writers ran out ideas for the original premise or else the powers that be in Hollywood stepped in and ruined another good film. Either way, about 10 minutes after Stone and Breslin enter the picture as a couple of sisters on their way to a zombie free amusement park, the movie starts to lose steam.

The story with the two girls is much less interesting. That screen time would have been better used by giving Harrelson more time as the slightly unstable zombie killing expert. Compared to him the rest of the cast is about as bland as the interchangeable zombies that get shot, hacked and run over. While Eisenberg does a good job, he's basically doing his best impersonation of Jon Cera from Juno. Breslin and Stone are pretty much wasted in their throw away roles.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the film though is the way it turns into the very thing it started out making fun of. You absolutely can't have a zombie movie where everyone is aware of the rules for surviving zombies, and then have them start breaking all those rules. In some ways this makes it even worse than your typical zombie film where people are splitting up or tripping on tree roots.

The movie has enough laughs to make it a fun time. But if you were looking forward to a really good zombie comedy you'll be let down.

3 out of 5 stars.