Kill a Zombie With a Frying Pan?...No Problems! (Zombieland (DVD))

Member Name: chugglebunny

Product:	Zombieland (DVD)
Date:	13/11/09 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An Easy To Watch, Non Complicated "Zom-Com"

Disadvantages: Maybe Too Gory For Some

I have always been a huge fan of zombie films and who doesn't love a good comedy? So with little expectations of cinematic genius and more hope for a lighthearted giggle, I headed to the cinema to see Zombieland.

Based in a world where mad cow disease has mutated and effected the mass populous, zombies are running wild in the USA and there are few who have managed to escape being infected or eaten alive.

"Columbus" is one of the lucky few, with his key rules of survival; he plays it safe to ensure he isn't turned into one of the undead.

He is joined by Tallahassee, Wichita and Little Rock along the way and the story follows the 4 as they try to survive and head for a theme park for a bit of normality during a zombie apocalypse...as you obviously would!

"Tallahassee" played by Woody Harrelson is the tough guy who is the perfect balance to Jesse Eisenberg's character "Columbus" who is geeky and basically a little bit of a nerd.
Emma Stone plays "Wichita" and Abigail Breslin is her sister "Little Rock".

The characters choose to call each other by their hometowns rather than real names as they are together through convenience rather than wanting to and don't want to form emotional attachments incase someone should get infected.

As I said, I wasn't expecting this film to be deep and meaningful or particularly believable and was just looking for a nice bit of silly zombie humour, which is exactly what you get.

There is a slight romance aspect thrown into the story and a few more delicate scenes when we learn a bit more about the characters and the people they have lost to the disease, but besides that, it is pretty much a comedy. Jesse Eisenberg is fantastic as the nerdy and sarcastic main character and I found myself smiling a lot at the likeability of his character. Woody Harrelson plays the bad ass that doesn't show any fear and even takes part in the "Zombie kill of the week" competitions (the most creative way to kill a zombie) They make a great pair as their different personalities cover all areas.

I think the thing I liked most about this film, was although it wasn't particularly believable (what with zombies taking over the world and all) it didn't actually dwell on that too much. In the first few minutes we are introduced to the world as it stands given the facts and then the story moves on to the characters without trying to explain too hard how and why everything is like it is. It's almost like the film makers realized it wasn't a particularly important part of the film, as it's not based in reality anyway and chose not to bother. I liked that. It was just "Here is our film, set in this world and now here is the story". No complex explanations or scientific interference to keep trying to justify the way it was.

Rated 15, the film does have a fair bit of gore and violence. Guns are used throughout the whole film and there are times when you will most certainly see people being eaten or zombies being shot/hacked/slashed/whacked and any other way you can think of killing a zombie. Anyone who has ever seen another zombie film will know the kind of thing I'm talking about, I myself hardly really noticed it, but then I am probably a little desensitized by that sort of thing. There is also quite a lot of swearing, mainly from Woody Harrleson.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, it's not in the same league as say "Shaun of the dead" but that is only mainly because of the difference in British and American humour. Its very easy to watch with only the 4 characters and anyone else being a zombie (except for a brilliant cameo from Bill Murray which was genius) the story is simple and not at all hard to follow, there is no evil corporation behind everything, no vaccine needed to save anyone's loved ones and no sci-fi gibberish to have to work out.

It's silly, gory and very easy viewing. I'd recommend it to anyone who liked "Shaun of the Dead" and enjoys a good bit of zombie bashing action from a few unlikely heroes.

Thanks for Reading :)

Summary: It Certainly Made Me Laugh!