Zombieland
/”The is now the United States of Zombieland.”
Filmology Rating: 3.25 out of 4
Zombieland was directed by Ruben Fleischer who later went on to direct my headache, 'Venom.' The screenplay handled by those who wrote 'Deadpool.' It's the zombie apocalypse and this group of weirdos band together to survive and fight zombies. That's it.
This is a zombie comedy in the more literal sense when compared to something like 'Return of the Living Dead.' But more so, this is a spoof film. Not like the miasma of 'Scary Movie'(s). The wonderful thing about this entire film is not just that it's a hilarious comedy, but rather it doesn't forget it has to function as a "film" first.
What's most surprising about the film is the focus it has. You take the comedy out of this film and it still works as a character-driven story that has character arcs and conflict; like a real movie should. It feels like a very tight script and at barely ninety minutes, it's the perfect runtime.
This is such a great cast too. Jesse Eisenberg, who I don't normally enjoy, is very charming in this film. He is the protagonist and the emotional core of the film. In a hilarious running gag, his character sets up many rules one must follow to survive the zombie apocalypse. All of which are true, clever, and side-splittingly hilarious. And it's a wonderfully hidden set-up when he must break his rule of "Never be a hero" to save Emma Stone. It's the type of stuff that makes you cheer. Most people remember Woody Harrelson most fondly. He is the Han Solo to Jesse Eisenberg. He is where most of the film's comedy stems from which is often in the form of his obsessive pursuit of finding a twinkie. Which he ends up accomplishing. And the satire of the "gun nut" character is also fun.
Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin play two sisters. If there's any criticism with the film, Breslin's character doesn't do all that much in the narrative. She feels like a character who simply tagged along. Emma Stone is also serviceable to the film. She is, literally, the damsel in distress at the end, but she is a character who very much takes action and relies on nobody to do so for her.
Bill Murray makes a wonderful cameo in the film. Originally, Fleischer wanted either Sylvester Stallone, Joe Pesci, The Rock, Kevin Bacon, or Matthew McConaughey to be the film's "celebrity cameo." However, Bill Murray was chosen and he only agreed to do it if he could improvise his dialogue. In this time, everyone dances to the 'Ghostbusters' theme in Bill Murray's house, watches the film, and runs around in 'Ghostbusters' cosplay. Then Bill Murray gets shot on accident and it hilariously cut to the four of them doing a 21 gun salute in honor of Bill Murray. He even took the time to poke a stick at 'Garfield'- a film Murray mistakenly was a part of.
The film is so restrained. There are hardly any zombies in the first two thirds of the film. In that time, we just see how characters interact with each other in a world that has no rules anymore. And the film teeter-totters into the fantasy/wish-fulfillment genre when we see our four characters just smashing everything in sight inside a convenience store. It's very 'Dawn of the Dead' inspired and satirized.
But the final act of this film shows how wonderfully the film was paced and built up when we see hundreds of zombies running around a theme park that is very exciting, which also lends to a very entertaining action set-piece where Woody Harrelson rides a roller coaster while shooting guns at zombies.
The film ends with a wonderful message, "Without other people, you might as well be a zombie." This entire film was just about this group of four people coming together to start a family of their own. And even in a gory, over-the-top, hilarious, zombie-comedy, there is still an emotional core to the film.
Rating: See It
-Nolan