Zombieland

Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer is on record as saying that he was inspired to make this film by Shaun of the Dead. While his attempt falls well short of Edgar Wright’s and Simon Pegg’s calling card, it is still entertaining Friday night fare. Clocking in at only 80 minutes, Fleischer makes the right call in getting the action underway from the first minute, which includes an explanatory voice over from Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) and a terrific zombiefied credits sequence. Shortly, Columbus meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and then eventually Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). As with all zombie movies, the protagonists keep on the move the majority of the time until the Adventure Theme Park conclusion. During this time, Fleischer does his best to try to get us to emphasise with the characters, but it doesn’t really work (especially with Wichita and Little Rock). In addition, though this is bracketed in the horror comedy genre, real scares and gore are at a premium. Indeed, the entire middle third of the film is pretty much zombie free. This is counter balanced though by a hugely witty script, apparently touched up by screen writing veteran William Goldman. The gags come thick and fast, though the films celebrated joke involving Bill Murray seemed pretty telegraphed to me. Acting honours go to Harrelson who chews up the scenery as the Twinkie hunting, shotgun and banjo packing Tallahassee. Another nice touch is having Columbus’s rules for surviving Zombieland flash up on screen. So, horror? Not really. Comedy? Very much so. Entertaining? Definitely.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Despite first impressions this isn’t actually all that original, but it does have some smart moments, a great performance from Harrelson and, crucially, it’s very funny indeed. Rating: 7/10.