Zombieland

I'm not really sure what it is about comedies that doesn't really grab me. It's not that I don't like to laugh (who doesn't like to laugh? except these guys), I think it's just that I find them kind of lacking in the context of the format of film. Most good comedies start out pretty great, they have a good amount of jokes and humorous scenes along the way, (as long as the trailers don't spoil everything for you) and then fall apart in the third act. Because they are films they have to follow the conventional formula and this usually leads to large chunks of the movie spent developing and bringing resolution to the (often) half baked plot. They can't just keep the same comedic tempo and pacing throughout the entire film. Because the plot is often an afterthought when comedies are being written, the audience doesn't have as strong of a connection to the characters as you would in a drama. Thus as the movie reaches the final act it looses all steam seeing that the audience isn't invested in the characters enough to keep it going. This leaves many comedies such as Dirty Work that switch pretty drastically from a brilliant work of comedy to a boring plot based drama as the story must be resolved.

I think this is why I am more likely to see and enjoy comedies that are set within or blended with another genre. Because these kind of films are both a comedy and something else at the same time, when the movie becomes more plot driven it still remains interesting because it doesn't only rely on it's comedic edge. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are the most recent filmmakers that are famous for this with their movies Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, and this is where Zombieland comes in. Of course the easiest comparison to Zombieland would be Shaun of the Dead and any review that doesn't at least mention this would be amiss. However besides the fact that they are both zombie comedies (or zomedies) they share little in common. Without considering their very different plots, Shaun of the Dead is more concerned with showing a humorous take on the zombie movie and deconstructing the genre, whereas Zombieland is more about having gross zombies serve as the backdrop for its humor and action.

Unlike most zombie movies which feel the need to explain why and how the infection spread, Zombieland is content to feed the audience a line about a bad hamburger and move on from there. I think this works very much in the films favor seeing that the audience never gets bogged down with some ridiculous backstory. As much as I love exposition, I found it refreshing that Zombieland was free from having to explain itself at every turn. We're thrust into a zombie apocalypse, much like the main characters must have been, and as the characters we try to make the best of it.

The film tries to be many things (horror movie, comedy, buddy picture, road trip movie, it even has elements of romance) but the film is at its best when Jesse Eisenburg and Woody Harrelson are just hanging out killing zombies together. Eisenburg plays his awkward, gangly, Michael Cera speaking self while Harrelson plays a tough-talking, ass-kicking southerner in a snakeskin jacket who feels the need to paint a 3 (in honor of Dale Earnhardt) on every car he co-ops. As Harrelson says in the film, the thing he was put on earth to do is kill zombies, and boy does he enjoy it. The film constantly finds new and interesting ways for him to maim and kill zombies, whether it's with a banjo or from a roller coaster, and it's almost like the movie took all the fun parts of zombie a video game.

The pair of sisters that are later introduced are useful to move the plot along, but they don't really add much to the movie besides to give Eisenburg a romantic interest and give the movie a place to move towards. There is also a 'secret' guest star that I won't ruin for you, but this section is getting a lot of press and accolades. The scenes in which they're in are fun, but they come in a section of the movie that is relatively zombie-free and what I think is the lowpoint for the movie. It just feels that they invested a lot in this having person and it kind of slows down the exceptional pace in which the movie usually moves.

The film is also stylized in way that is both interesting and unique. As is becoming increasingly common these days the movie has a great opening sequence (on par with Watchmen) which consists of a bunch of scenes of zombies chasing people in slow motion that lets you know that you're in for gore, humor and style. The most unique aspect of this style is how whenever Eisenburg brings up one of his 'rules' to surviving in Zombieland the rule appears on screen as text, and then interacts with whatever is happening on screen. Subsequently, the rules then appear on the screen whenever the characters do something in which they are applicable. The 'double-tap' rule especially comes up in humorous ways throughout the film.

As good as most of the film is, the movie is really worth watching for the last 20 or so minutes. I'm not ruining anything to say that the final destination for the movie is an amusement park (part of what gives Zombieland its name) and this is the best part of the movie. It's pretty much nonstop fun zombie kills, interesting action scenes, and a bit of drama that is genuinely interesting. At a quick 80 minutes, when Zombieland ends you wish that you could get right back in line for more of the same.