“Zombieland” Review

Sure to be a hit for anyone with a sense of humor – or love of all things undead – “Zombieland” previewed tonight for select audiences before opening tomorrow.

The movie, which follows a paranoid, phobia obsessed boy Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) as he traverses through a world populated by mostly zombies – or infected people – had the preview audience laughing, applauding and holding their breath.

It opens with a narration by Columbus as he explains, with entertaining and gory clips, the rules that have help him survive for so long on a largely diseased and abandoned earth. The rules, including “Cardio,” “Check the Back Seat” and “Don’t be a hero” make frequent appearances throughout the film and are flawlessly intertwined into scenes with text animation and video examples.

While concentrating on surviving, Columbus meets zombie killing bad-ass, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who is essentially a walking game of “Dead Rising” as he kills zombies with every weapon and every method possible. The pair is eventually joined by sisters Little Rock and Wichita and the four head for California, where they’re hoping to find sanctuary from the zombies.

What ensues is an entertaining adventure that touches on all emotions, including sadness, but is never far away from a good laugh. The love story is simple and cute and viewers will find themselves becoming emotionally attached to the characters.

Columbus is an endearing main character with some unfortunate luck in the women department. He has plenty of one liners and scene-stealing moments.

Tallahassee really stole the scenes, however, and with a touching back-story, tough outer shell and an obsession with Twinkies, he’ll have viewers rooting for his survival.

Nothing is inherently scary – though the amount of blood and guts in the film explains the ‘R’ rating and may make some flinch – but there are plenty of starling moments that may have viewers jumping in their seats.

One pleasing surprise in the film, which shouldn’t be spoiled, is the guest cameo.

Overall, the film was much more than a montage of brutal zombie kills – though that was a good portion of it.
It was funny, sweet, touching, sad, adventurous and gory – but somehow all these emotions and themes blend together to create a movie that was beautifully made, well-written and memorable.

Rating: R
Grade: A+

– Emily Handy