182: Zombieland

Zombieland (R) - 2009 - Runtime: 81 minutes
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Director: Ruben Fleischer

It seems like zombies and vampires are all the rage nowadays. You can't navigate your cable box or the internet without running into some sort of flesh-eating, slow-walking dead person or a fang-toothed, blood-sucking vixen (or stud, if you prefer). For me, I've steadfastly refused to jump on this whole vampire bandwagon. I don't mind some (Twilight was good and Let the Right One In was pretty fantastic), but True Blood (I swear to god if someone mentions how I should be watching that show I will literally - literally - snap their neck and drain their blood into a bucket and wash my car with it. Okay. I'm fine. Just had to get that off my chest), the Vampire Diaries or any other countless number of Vampire projects coming up - I'll pass. There's really only so much you can watch.

But zombie movies? I can deal with them a lot better. Yeah, I haven't watched too many zombie movies (28 Days/Weeks Later and Shaun of the Dead are the only ones, actually) and it's kind of nice that they've taken a back burner to this sudden vampire love fest. I've actually read articles devoted to this phenomenon and why. One mentioned it's because vampires relate to our troubling times. That's just pretentious bull - we all know it's because vampires are just symbols for sex. And sex sells.

Okay, let's finally get to the movie, sorry to keep you in such suspense! I didn't really know what to expect - the trailers for the movie looked decent but for some reason I was expecting the movie to take itself and its zombies a little too seriously. But from the opening montage, I knew I was in for a treat. Jesse Eisenberg narrates and plays "Columbus," a name originating from where his hometown is. The rule is to never get too close, hence the name. And Columbus has a lot of rules when living in Zombieland. Like rule #2: Double Tap. Don't ever try to save your bullets - make sure that you shoot them twice.

What I liked about this movie was how fun it was. The style was perfect - you have the rules digitally written on screen when they happen - it's very cool and adds to the quirky characters and plot. Columbus is just trying to survive when he meets up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and they're both heading the same way - so they decide to work together towards their respective homes. And then they meet up with two uber-cool, tough as nails sisters Wichita and Little Rock (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin) who happen to be just as good as con artists as they are at surviving Zombieland. They both eventually end up riding together and having fun (well fun for us anyway) along the way towards a supposed zombie-free amusement park, Pacific Playland.

And although this movie is full of guts and blood and a healthy dose of humor - it's got some heart and there are moments of total dread in the characters' eyes. And there is a very hilarious cameo that I will not spoil because it's just too great. That cameo is worth the price of admission alone! The movie may not take itself too seriously, but the characters were not just reasons for us to see zombies get blown up or smashed to bits. I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn't hesitate to watch it again, like a couple dozen times. It's really that good! This one comes out October 2 - so check it out!

Rating: See It!