Cracking Spines
Zombieland: A Brief Review
the smartest person i know who isn’t pretending to be an artist:
I’m not exactly sure how Jesse Eisenberg managed to find himself in two “somethingland” movies in a row, playing more or less exactly the same character in each. Fortunately, it’s a good character for him, though having seen him in only those two movies it may very well be the only character for him.
Zombieland follows many of the same basic zombie movie tropes, group of disparate survivors come together with the goal of finding a (supposedly) safe haven from the undead, there is conflict along the way, and everyone becomes close by the end (and maybe dies). Fortunately, despite the boilerplate plotting, the characters and scenarios are enough for a solid 90 minutes of just watching the wimpy Columbus (Eisenberg) and the completely unhinged Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) clash personalities. There are also two girls in the movie but really who cares because they are mostly boring.
While it was not quite gory enough for my (admittedly bloodthirsty) tastes, Zombieland is still a lot of fun. There are places where it gets a bit gimmicky, and only half of the cast is particularly funny, but all told it is a solid entry in the burgeoning zombie comedy genre. Also keep an eye out for what is quite possibly the best A-list celebrity cameo that I have ever seen.
