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closeWednesday, Sep. 30, 2009
'Zombieland' adds up to a ravenously funny road trip
Zombieland
****
R (horror, violence, gore, strong language); 87 min.
When it comes to genre filmmaking, Zombieland, a grisly comedy about yet another attack of the ravenous undead, does just about everything right. Likable characters you sort of care about? Check. Hilarity and horror flying at you in equal measure? Check. Clocking in at well under 90 minutes so the concept doesn’t have time to wear itself out? Oh, yeah.
That this nimble, clever twist on zombie-invasion flicks is directed by Ruben Fleischer, a guy whose résumé is so thin that directing three episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! counts as major work experience, offers proof that creativity in Hollywood — like the spunky heroes at the center of Zombieland — does manage to survive after all. (Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick also come out of TV, most notably The Joe Schmo Show. Who knew that would lead to anything worthwhile?)
Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland), the new Michael Cera, is Columbus, a 20-something geek who — because he’s locked away playing video games all the time — escapes the viral infection that turns nearly every human into a flesh-eating freak. When it finally dawns on him what’s going on, he goes on the run from his apartment in Austin to his family’s Ohio home. (The movie actually opens in what’s supposed to be Garland, though it was shot in Georgia.)
Along the way, he falls in with three other survivors: Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a twitchy survivalist who enjoys nothing more than mowing down zombies; and the devious Wichita (Emma Stone) and her younger sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) — yes, there’s a reason why everyone has geographic names. They decide to go to L.A. on the vague rumor that there might be safety out there. Road trip!
There’s a major plot point that happens in Hollywood that sends Zombieland, which up to that point had been cleverly speeding along, into comedy overdrive. Not only is it funny in its own right, but it also works as a nod to Ghostbusters, the 1984 film to which Zombieland owes a debt.
Unlike its monsters, Zombieland certainly is not dead from the neck up.
— Cary Darling
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