Zombieland Review
Sunday, October 4. 2009
Although the trailers to Zombieland looked great, I was very cautious about seeing it. Woody Harrelson seems to have a knack for picking roles and/or movies that I dislike: Money Train, The Cowboy Way, and Kingpin all fell flat in my book. Fortunately, Zombieland more than makes up for those misfires.
There are only seven credited actors, and three of those are on screen for just a few minutes (one is even a non-speaking part). So with a cast that small, they all have to hit their marks, and Harrelson (Tallahassee), Jesse Eisenberg (Columbus), Emma Stone (Wichita), and Abigail Breslin (Little Rock) pull it off nicely. They go from adversaries to family convincingly: it doesn't feel like they ended up together because "that's what the script said."
This was really just a bonus, though. The real reason anyone goes to see Zombieland is for zombie-killing action, and the movie delivers. Shotguns remain the standard zombie-dispatch tool, but we also get zombie deaths by car, hedge clippers, banjo, piano, and carnival ride (among others). There are a few slower scenes, but they feel less like "down time" and more like "get ready for the next wave."
For those of you who still don't care for fast zombies, the movie has an explanation for the plague that does not defy that convention. So go, enjoy a Halloween-themed movie that managed to get the release month correct, and be sure to stay past credits for one last scene with Bill Murray.
Collector/Modeler Interest:
This is an easy one: both the Cadillac Escalade and Hummer H2 are readily available in both styrene and diecast. You'd have to add the plow blade, remove the headlight, and do a wheel swap on the Caddy, and both need the "3" added to the doors, but nothing too complicated.
There are only seven credited actors, and three of those are on screen for just a few minutes (one is even a non-speaking part). So with a cast that small, they all have to hit their marks, and Harrelson (Tallahassee), Jesse Eisenberg (Columbus), Emma Stone (Wichita), and Abigail Breslin (Little Rock) pull it off nicely. They go from adversaries to family convincingly: it doesn't feel like they ended up together because "that's what the script said."
This was really just a bonus, though. The real reason anyone goes to see Zombieland is for zombie-killing action, and the movie delivers. Shotguns remain the standard zombie-dispatch tool, but we also get zombie deaths by car, hedge clippers, banjo, piano, and carnival ride (among others). There are a few slower scenes, but they feel less like "down time" and more like "get ready for the next wave."
For those of you who still don't care for fast zombies, the movie has an explanation for the plague that does not defy that convention. So go, enjoy a Halloween-themed movie that managed to get the release month correct, and be sure to stay past credits for one last scene with Bill Murray.
Collector/Modeler Interest:
This is an easy one: both the Cadillac Escalade and Hummer H2 are readily available in both styrene and diecast. You'd have to add the plow blade, remove the headlight, and do a wheel swap on the Caddy, and both need the "3" added to the doors, but nothing too complicated.