Zombieland (2009)
"This place is so dead."
Rated R / Color / 80 Minutes

WARNING: THIS CAPSULE REVIEW CONTAINS A FEW SPOILERS!

It's rare that I go into a movie with high expectations and actually have them met. Imagine my surprise when my already high expectations were exceeded by Zombieland! In a year that was saturated by severely disapointing films (Transformers 2... cough, cough), it was refreshing to see a movie that was well-made, highly entertaining, and funny as hell!

Zombieland takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a virus has turned the majority of humanity into bloodthirsty, mindless cannibals (a la 28 Days Later). Somehow, during all of the carnage and chaos, a meek and ridiculously cautious fellow that goes by the name of Columbus (as in, Columbus, Ohio) is wandering the American wastelands, with hopes of finding his family.

Columbus puts some of his zombie survival rules to the test.

In between sharing his lengthy survival list with the audience and putting said list to the test against ravenous zombies, Columbus eventually runs into another survivor that calls himself Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson). Tallahassee takes the spineless teenager under his wing, and together they head East for their respective destinations.

However, Tallahassee is obsessed with two things in "United States of Zombieland:" Twinkies and killing zombies. Rather than playing it safe and avoiding contact with any crazed flesheaters, Tallahassee throws caution to the wind in order to procure himself some delicious Hostess Twinkies before the last ones in the continental U.S. become extinct. ("Believe it or not, twinkies do have an expiration date!")

During a twinkie hunt/zombie brawl, the unlikely duo comes across, and eventually teams up with two more survivors of the zombie plague, namely Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin of Little Miss Sunshine fame). At first, both twosomes are at odds with one another, but eventually the four "Zombieland orphans" learn to trust one another, and begin to form a tightly knit (albeit highly dysfunctional) family unit.

Nothing attracts Redneck Zombies faster than a bit o' "Dueling Banjos."

As the film rockets towards its action-packed climax, the small group of survivors decides to travel to "Pacific Playland" near Hollywood, California, because it is allegedly zombie free.

When they finally arrive in Tinseltown, our four heroes cruise through Beverly Hills with the hopes of staying overnight in a celebrity's mansion. After a few minutes of scoping out the homes of Tom Cruise and other A-list celebrities, Tallahassee finally settles on a gorgeous mansion that belongs to....

Sorry, but I'm not going to tell you who's house they take refuge in, or describe a single moment of the hilarious celebrity cameo that ensues. Just know that what happens is amazingly funny, despite being a bit on the predictable side, and it instantly made Zombieland one of my all-time favorite movies.

At this point, the group breaks up as Wichita and Little Rock head for the amusement park, leaving Columbus and Tallahassee in the dust. Columbus is heartbroken by their departure, as he has fallen in love with Wichita, so he decides to head to Pacific Playland to be with her. Not willing to let his sidekick charge blindly into danger on his own, Tallahassee decides to tag along.

Adventureland + zombies = Zombieland!

In the meantime, Wichita and Little Rock have broken in to the theme park. After Wichita verifies that the place is actually zombie free, she begins switching on all the attractions. The bright twinkling lights and carousel music gets the attention of every hungry ghoul in town, and soon, hundreds of the bloodthirsty cannibals begin streaming into Pacific Playland.

To escape the army of zombies, Wichita and Little Rock end up stranding themselves on a theme park ride. Things look pretty grim for the two sisters, but luckily, Tallahassee and Columbus come to their rescue with guns blazing. Will the (seemingly) last four people in the United States survive the zombie onslaught? You'll just have to go see the movie to find out!

Zombieland is, in my opinion, easily one of the best movies of 2009, and I am extremely happy to see that it is currently number one at the box office as of my writing this. The film has an amazing soundtrack, which boasts the likes of Metallica and Van Halen, an amazing cast, cool gore effects, and a sense of humor that just about anyone can appreciate.

Woody Harrelson is fantastic as Tallahassee, the slightly insane yet loveable post-apocalyptic zombie slayer and twinkie connoisseur. Harrelson's character generates most of the laughs in this film and he gives an incredibly energetic performance; if you do not fall in love with Woody Harrelson after seeing this movie, then you might just be a zombie yourself.

The family that slays zombies together, stays together.

Jesse Eisenberg (the bastard child of Andy Samberg and Michael Cera) does a great job as Columbus, and provides an excellent foil for his "devil may care" friend, Tallahassee. Its fun to watch Eisenberg's character develop from being an overly cautious wuss to a slightly more adventurous wuss who can face his own fears.

Emma Stone serves as the eye candy here, but surprisingly she can act! She plays off of her co-star, Abigail Breslin quite well, and throughout the course of the film, you can easily believe that the two actresses are sisters.

As you can see, I really loved Zombieland and highly recommend you go see it. It has suspense, a bit of romance, a tiny bit o' tragedy, tons of humor, and although if falls back on a few cliches, the film does provide a few fun surprises for the audience.

For entertaining the Hell out of me, and impressing me so damned much (I saw this THREE times on the big screen in one weekend!), I am proud to give this fantastic film the highest honor I can bestow. That's right folks, Zombieland is getting the coveted:


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