Zombieland

Now this was just a satisfying movie.

A few months back I complied a list of my top ten zombie movies, commenting that I hoped Zombieland would prove good enough to make an updated version of that list.  I missed it in the theatre because I just never found the time, because I'm cheap, and because I'm lazy. It finally released on DVD, and it was awesome. I'll always regret not having seen it in the theatre, since this was a big, fun, crowd-pleasing movie that I bet had audiences cheering. I mean, I was all alone in the apartment.

To begin with, this wasn't your typical Zombie-comedy, of which there have been too many over the years, only Shaun of the Dead being the least bit funny. It isn't typical in that it isn't a parody of the genre, so much as a funny film that takes place in a world inhabited by zombies. The jokes aren't at the expense of the genre, nor do they rely on any knowledge of the tropes or cliches found in these movies. The humor comes from the wit of the characters and the utter ridiculousness of the situations in which they find themselves.

Also, it's just one of those few comedies where every joke works. It's a funny movie.

The entire premise of the film is almost as though the filmmakers were sick of the cliches of zombie movies and wanted to make a film where people acted logically and made smart decisions. This is a film where the characters do things that most of us would do, and behave in a way most of us would behave. Well, until the ending where they go to an amusement park and seem to forget about the existence of zombies, but by that point we are won over by the characters and want them to have a little fun. But, still, those chicks could've taken a few more precautions.

The cast is probably the best ever assembled for a zombie film, with a standout performance by Woody Harrelson has one of the all time best badasses ever put on film. The sequence at the end where he's just going through the amusement park killing thousands of zombies is awesome. Jesse Eisenberg out Cerras Michael Cerra, giving a really sweet performance as a character that otherwise would've been completely annoying. Emma Stone is really hot, which is about all I can say for the underwritten roles of the females, but that was enough for me. And this film also contains, without any doubt or fear of exaggeration, the best celebrity cameo in the history of film. It was so over the top funny and surreal, it very nearly stopped the film all together, but it was worth it because it was so funny and ridiculous.

Just rent it. You'll be glad you did.