Review: Zombieland (2009)

An old school kill the zombies flick with several doses of well conceived humor. The story is simple enough as the first person who is infected with mad cow disease from eating a burger spreads the infection across the USA, turning regular people into mad crazed, flesh eating zombies. The hero of the film is Columbus, a kind of nerdy kid played by Jessie Eisenberg, who survives his first encounter with a zombie, his next door hottie of a neighbor. He narrates the film and gives out his tips on how to survive in this new zombie infested world. First rule: Cardio. You have to be in shape and be able to outrun zombies, if not you're a goner. Another rule is the double tap. Don't just shoot a zombie once, shoot them at least twice to make sure. His rules end up saving his life on more than one occasion. He is trying to get home to find out if his family is still alive when he runs into Tallahassee (a scene stealing Woody Harrelson), a regular guy who loves coming up with inventive ways of dispatching zombies. And he craves finding some twinkies. The guys soon meet up with two sisters named Wichita (a fetching Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). All the characters names are destinations where they are from. So these four people, after some issues of mistrust, end up making their way to California to visit the ultimate theme park to just have some fun. Of course, they get to kill a crap load of zombies in the process. Zombieland is a fresh and funny take on the zombie story. That has enough gore and action to please the horror fan, and enough comedy to please everyone else. There is a surprise cameo by a popular actor that will have you busting a gut. I rank Zombieland right behind Shaun of the Dead in terms of entertainment value. And at a breezy 88 minutes, the movie never stalls or gets boring. It will have you either laughing or gasping the entire time. Good wholesome fun for all. Yeah that was a little sarcasm. But watch Zombieland and you will have a good time. I'm already waiting for the sequel.
B