Joyous Mayhem
Written: Nov 01 '09 (Updated Nov 01 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: very funny, great set pieces, with a lot of thought thrown in
Cons: It's hard to do a comedy-horror film.
The Bottom Line: This is more a guy flick, and its violent humor is not for all, but it's absolutely awesome.
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| bilavideo's Full Review: Zombieland |
This is my kind of zombie flick. Not since the remarkably-decent remake of Dawn of the Dead have I laughed so much at so much mayhem. Comedy-horror flicks are usually a bad bet. Bubba Hotep notwithstanding, the typical comedy-horror flick rates about as well as Snakes on a Plane, with comedy lovers complaining there's not enough humor and horror geeks kvetching about the lack of decent gore. Still, you have to give credit where credit is due. After a season of zombie flicks, with the genre so inundated, you'd think all those zombies were directors of other zombie flicks, it's nice to see somebody find a use for the zombie genre - even if it's to give it two shots to the head.
Like Twilight, Zombieland is a kind of sacrilege, a genre film that really isn't. Just as Twilight exploited bloodsucker flicks to tell a curiously old-fashioned tale about teens struggling with abstinence, Zombieland is really a coming-of-age flick, dressed up like a self-help lesson, but one set in the freakshow world of a zombie apocalypse. While raping the zombie genre for its own purposes, Zombieland actually does a bigger swipe at the self-help genre than The Love Guru (and with far fewer jokes about bodily functions). There's a certain frustration that wells up into actual rage (almost zombie rage) when one has to endure the top-ten lists full of "expert advice" delivered by calm-cool-morons pretending to be lifestyle gurus. It's that crowd that calls for a hit squad straight out of Inglorious Basterds.
"Columbus" (Jesse Eisenberg) is this film's accidental tourist. He's a sweaty-palmed shut-in whose college education is interrupted by the zombie apocalypse. Saved by his habit of staying in to eat his pizza and play World of Warcraft, "Columbus" rushes home to check on his family - who live in Columbus. The moniker he wears is actually given to him by "Tallahassee" (Woody Harrelson), a redneck buttkicker making his way to the Sunshine State. Along the way, these two pick up two girls, "Wichita" (Emma Stone) and "Little Rock," (Abigail Breslin) also orphaned by the end of the world as we know it. In this film, anybody worth knowing is only worth knowing by where they're going. After all, you never when you'll have to kill the person next to you, especially if they give you that lean and hungry look.
All four are going somewhere, which means that this is a road trip movie filled with zombies. Columbus (the only one whose name isn't associated with Native Americans) is the coward of the group; he has a list of self-help rules for survival, including "limber up," "cardio," "Beware of bathrooms," and "Don't be a hero." Tallahassee, on the other hand, is total testosterone. This guy hates zombies with a passion and practically lives to take them down. If Columbus is just looking for an exit, Tallahassee is looking for a confrontation - and the world's last Hostess Twinkie. Wichita and Little Rock, on the other hand, are a pair of grifters, doing less brawning than conning. They actually want to go the other way - west - to Pacific Playland. In a world that has turned into Resident Evil, these two just want to recover some of that old innocence while time is on their side.
The jokes, which come fast and furious, are a lesson in orchestration of characters. It's all about how these four handle the ultimate leadership challenge. Somehow, through a mixture of fight, flight and fraud, they're all on a mission, each with their own "pursuit of happiness" weighing in with a renewed interest in "life" and "liberty."
Some of the yuks are situational; others are verbal; but the film's most memorable moments are explosions of violence. In this regard, Zombieland is not for everyone. Some will miss the joke, particularly if it's covered in blood - and I mean buckets of it. You have to be in a bit of a Deathwish mood to get its thrills. With the tagline, "It's time to nut up or shut up," this film doesn't pull any punches - or fall short in the delivery. Dark humor is rarely this dark, or this funny.
Dripping with as much sarcasm as blood, Zombieland executes its punchlines with the timing and precision of a good slasher - and the end result will blow you away.
Along the way, look for in-jokes and at least one celebrity cameo. I don't want to spoil anything. Just keep in mind that, in one exchange, we're reminded of another, completely different, film in a completely different genre. Why? Because the actor uttering the line in this film was featured in that other film. Beyond all that, all I can say is to go in with your ears open and your brain on.
Look also for a surprising cache of symbolism. Zombie flicks are typically about the end of civilization as we know it. In that regard, they are the ultimate case in crisis management. But they're also cheap opportunities to enjoy socially-acceptable slaughter. They're what Cecil B. DeMille would have given us if he had made a Death Wish film - with a cast of thousands. In that sense, they obviously offered screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick a chance to muse upon the subject of violence. Zombie flicks are the ultimate genre, in terms of body count. The nightmare of cannibalistic cadavers, seeking victims, is as much about violence as the genre's obvious solution: double-tap as many as you can. While you won't see a character stand on a soapbox and pontificate about the role of violence, director Ruben Fleischer makes a point of constructing his scenes so that violence is not just part of the problem and the solution but so endemic to human behavior that it's part of our play.
Violence is one way humans bond, a fact highlighted in one of this film's best scenes - the sacking of an Indian trading post. Look also for how Tallahassee dispatches his attackers while riding the rides at Pacific Playland.
To put my money where my mouth is, I saw this film three times - taking with me different "guests" each time. I was taken by the slapstick gore, the funny dialog and the thoughtfulness of the presentation. You won't see an award for Zombieland on Oscar night, but if comedy were given more respect, there'd be an award for what is clearly one of the best comedies of the year.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Funny Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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