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Zombieland
USA 2009
produced by Gavin Polone, Ryan Kavanaugh (executive), Rhett Reese (executive), Ezra Swerdlow (executive), Paul Wernick (executive) for Pariah, Relativity Media/Columbia
directed by Ruben Fleischer
starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Amber Heard, Bill Murray, Derek Graf
written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, music by David Sardy
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is a nerd with no social life who tends to
overthink everything - which, once the zombie apocalypse strikes, makes
him the perfect survivor, basically because for one, without social life,
he is detached enough to kill whoever necessary, plus his overthinking
means he has rules for everything - including survival. But as good as he
is at survival, and as little he pretends to care for other humans, being
one of the last persons in town gets a bit lonely after a while, and thus
he decides to return to his hometown to see if his family has survived.
But of course, on his way there, his car breaks down, and it's just dumb
luck that he runs into another survivor, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a
loud mouthed tough guy who basically has survived till now because he's
really good at zombie killing - so much so that he does it as a sport. The
two are an unlikely couple for sure, but in times of a zombie apocalypse,
one can't be choosy. Eventually, Columbus and Tallahassee stumble upon
two girls, Wichita (Emma Stone) and young Little Rock (Abigail Breslin),
with the latter obviously having been bitten and asking to be shot dead
before she can turn - but ultimately this was just a trick to relieve the
two friends of their weapons and truck. With humnankind mostly gone
though, that means there are plenty of unclaimed cars around, and soon
Columbus and Tallahassee find a truck full of weapons that apparently was
former owned by some redneck, so they're actually better off than before -
when they bump into the girls again in an ambush, and again the girls have
the upper hand. However, the four of them soon realize it makes more sense
to combine forces to stay alive rather than fight one another in the face
of death. So they head to Hollywood to seek abode in Bill Murray's
(himself) home - who turns out to be still alive, having survived all that
long by dressing up as a zombie. unfortunately, Columbus mistakes him for
a zombie and shoots him dead. Eventually, the two girls sneak away as
Wichita has promised Little Rock to take her to a certain amusement park
that's supposed to be zombie free - and sure enough there are no zombies
there when they arrive, but once they have all the rides running, this
attracts the zombies, and eventually, they find themselves cornered. But
of course, Columbus and Tallahassee come to the rescue ... Now
one thing's for sure, Zombieland has its fun scenes, and actually
loads of them. There's hardly a zombie kill that doesn't deserve a laugh,
all the chases and action scenes seem to wink at the audience, and in a
way that really makes one chuckle, and some plot ideas are simply
hilarious. And that said, this is not a perfect movie, basically because
the main plot is way too sentimental: The problem is that all the main
characters are good guys, and whatever rough edges they have at first,
it's revealed that they all have hearts of gold, the nerd, the tough guy,
the thief, and of course the girl is the epitomy of innocence born into a
rough world. And with all of these characters being de facto saints (and
also feeling slightly generic),
there's too little conflict once the zombies are not around - and also too
little laughs. Which brings me to another point: How can you cast Bill
Murray in a comedy and then have him not be funny? His talents are
really wasted here. That said, the film's still plenty of laughs, it
just falls short of its promise.
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