I'm a huge fan of the whole end of the world zombie apocalypse movies so with Zombieland my expectations were pretty damn high and knowing that there was going to be Woody Harrelson in it I knew this movie had a ton of laughs and the action is solid too, but the story certain characters and just some weird choices kinda throw me off a bit on the fun. This is not some horror masterpiece or a classic but it does the job as a comedy horror mash up with zombies and yes sometimes it's totally goofy but in a way that makes you smile. The whole charm for me was the way it mixes laughs with zombie kills, the gore and a fast moving plot and I also have to mention the design, makeup and effects looked really polished, like big studio money clearly went into making the zombies look good. Also, no shortage of creative kills that make you say "wow" especially this one scene where a lady crashes out of a car, flies through the air and then explodes in this weirdly hilarious shower of blood, it was kinda gruesome but also kinda funny in the right.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1156398/
- Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Rottentomatoes Rating
Woody Harrelson, as usual steals the show completely with his character "Tallahassee" is a wild and crazy bad ass with a love for Twinkies that drives some funny moments, although its the chemistry he shares with Jesse Eisenberg's "Columbus" is like an oddball buddy road trip but also Jesse Eisenberg's character was annoying at times. His acting sometimes stick with you and the humor he tries to bring didn't always land for me so its a 50/50. I never really laughed at his jokes most of the time, it felt off compared to the rest of the cast performance wise. Emma Stone, on the other hand shines bright as hell as she is freaking gorgeous, energetic and brings a fresh vibe to the group. Her and Abigail Breslin's characters add the right balance of sass and depth to what could have been just another dumb zombie comedy. The way these four characters interact feels original and almost natural most of the time, even when the script gets a bit weak. Columbus with his rules for survival is a nice touch that gives structure to the chaos, like his cardio rule or the double tap rule that actually make sense in a zombie apocalypse scenario, he mention it, that rules kept him alive.
There were some scenes that to be honest let like dumb stuff that made me roll my eyes big time throughout the movie. There were some seriously stupid moves by the characters and I get it, post apocalyptic fiction needs suspension of disbelief but some stuff in this movie went way beyond that. Like the scene where the group finds a crashed Hostess snack truck and everyone is all hyped for Twinkies only to find, individually wrapped Snowballs dropping out everywhere? Come on, only noobs think snack trucks ship snacks one by one like that! Then there is the whole excessive Twinkie obsession that sometimes felt like an over the top product placement add that got annoying. In this movie the Twinkies are like the holy grail of this new world and if I remember right, they barely find any throughout the entire movie, the more I give though to this Zombie apocalypse I find hard that society would fall so drastically that nothing will function and the entire world would stop, unless they are like World War Z or 28 Years Latter infected, that agressive and fast, if not humans would find a way and Twinkies would exist but be very expesive pobably. Plus in certain point of the story it was slow, making circle in a same idea and instead of find a way to give more heart to the story just plays save, movies like this or in fact comedy is hard for me to talk about for some reason. The whole ending while it was visually cool, felt kinda predictable and drawn out in places because you could see the zombie swarm coming from miles away, yet these characters act surprised when it happens. The electricity still working after months of apocalypse but if they could have given more context to the rest of the world like who's running these power plants exactly? then again is a silly comedy so shouldnt put too much though on he enviroment. Probably no one will think about the Twinkies obsession or that the electricity still working, is coherent to think that the story is about 4 person surviving the apocalypses so why isn't someone in charge of electricity?, is just a crazy thought I guess, but well all that is part of the universe of Zombieland.
Then there is famous Bill Murray cameo, what a mixed bag that turned out to be since it was hilarious and totally unexpected to see him playing a Zombie that actually talks and interacts with everyone, but the joke of him sneaking up twice on people strapped with guns and loaded weapons? probably the dumbest choice ever in my opinion. Like, what were you thinking, Bill? You almost get shot the first time, then you do it again to different people? that is just asking for trouble and if you didn't notice he is not a real zombie is only makeup on the movie itself, he is just playing with the people, who believe that enter in his mansion is the best refugee, he still alive until this group arrived to his house and get shut and die, yes die, his cameo I think give a fresh moment to the story obviously because is unexpected so is better when in the must stupid way he dies. At the same time it made me think a little bit on how many provisions he has in his home that he didn't needs to search for something else, is good be rich during the Apocalypse.
Zombieland was a wild ride with decent enough laughs, memorable characters and some catchy one liners that stick with you but it was dragged down by uneven acting performances, over the top stupidity and some underdeveloped romantic bits that felt forced, there is no special reason I decided to watch, if not because I was looking at Jesse Eisenberg profile on IMDB and decided to go with one of this comedy movies, well this is not his but ones he been part of. It's not perfect and definitely not the benchmark for zombie comedies in any way, but for a light hearted zombie movie that was more about the fun times than intense thrills or genuine scares, it hits its mark reasonably wel, seeing those survival rules pop up on screen with concrete examples was a cool touch that gave it a video game vibe that I appreciated. The rule about cardio being importnt for outrunning zombies makes total sense, same with the double tap rule for making sure they stay dead. If you're into comedy horror and want a casual popcorn movie to chill with on a lazy weekend, this is a movie that you should give an opportunity, just don't expect the next Walking Dead or 28 Days Later, is totally different theme, its a comedy. The gore effects are solid, the zombie makeup looks convincing enough and will make you laugh enough to keep you entertained. Emma was hot as hell and brought great energy and Jesse not his best neither worst performance, overall a cool and well earned 7.5/10 for me.
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