Summer movies have their purpose. In those hot and lazy summer months, air-conditioning and sitting down become the only appealing activity. Strange and obsessive cravings for things like raw chicken, GI Joes and chocolate covered jujubes begin to kick in. Meanwhile, our bellies continue to balloon—from the countless handfuls of popcorn we’ve been shoving into our gaping mouths for the past three months.
Then comes the fall film—an entirely different beast. We struggle to incorporate this unique, independent, and philosophically intimidating little thing into our now deeply troubled understanding of the world of film. This can lead to a dangerous post-Transformers depression that, if left untreated, could give way to a complete loss of cinematic taste. Luckily for us, scientists have discovered the perfect solution for easing our transition into autumn. That solution? Zombies!
Zombieland positions itself successfully on the line between the big-budget scorchers of summer and the more cerebral breezes of fall, between audiences not quite ready to let go of explosions and those itching for indie flicks and Oscar season.
The story is wonderfully simple. Mad cow disease has spread to humans, rapidly turning the entire population into flesh-eating monsters. Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is an endearingly neurotic student in Austin, Texas trying to make his way back to Ohio to reconnect with his family. Early on in his journey he meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), an idiosyncratic cowboy with an Escalade full of zombie-mutilating weapons and an unquenchable hunger for Hostess Twinkies. This amusingly odd couple is brought closer together when two grifting sisters, Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) steal their car, their guns and their male pride. This rag-tag group eventually comes together and heads to an amusement park in California, which they believe to be zombie-free. They are, of course, incorrect in this assumption, leading to one of the most entertaining action sequences seen in quite some time.
But for a movie called Zombieland, director Ruben Fleischer is remarkably conservative with his use of the living dead. That’s not to say there aren’t buckets of blood, brains, and entrails—there are. The opening credits alone are enough to turn the stomach of the squeamish and bring silly grins to the faces of the morbid. But Fleischer refuses to let action dictate the direction of the film. There were long stretches of time where I almost forgot the film’s zombie-conceit and found myself simply enjoying the atmosphere of a well-directed road movie.
I watched the group grow closer together as they began to realize the importance of human connection in their post-apocalyptic world. Then I started to ponder the detriments of the trend of technological isolationism that has brought our own world’s understanding of traditional human to the brink of extinction. Then I started to get sad. Then Woody Harrelson beat an obese zombie to death with a banjo. It was wonderful.
Jesse Eisenberg channels Michael Cera as a play-it-safe neurotic who attributes his survival to an extensive list of rules he steadfastly adheres to. But while Cera’s acting style generally takes his awkwardness to the hilarious edge of reason, Eisenberg’s Columbus feels less like a caricature and more like a real person. His awkward affection for Emma Stone’s street-smart Wichita is something we’ve seen before, but as we watch him slowly win her over, it’s sweet, nice and warm and fuzzy nonetheless.
Stone is no slouch. She seems comfortable playing off the wackiness of Harrelson and the irony of Eisenberg and can slay zombies with the best of them—all while looking gorgeous.
Woody Harrelson seems to be playing Woody Harrelson, which is fantastic, and even my aversion to child actors can’t stop me from itting that Abigail Breslin is at least able as the precocious little sister. On top of this talent, Fleischer throws in a hilariously unexpected, high-profile cameo to round out a great cast.
Zombieland isn’t a completely unique film. It borrows and expands on ideas encountered in other comedy-horror flicks like Shaun of the Dead and Army of Darkness, but it does so with a simplicity and imagination that make it enjoyable and endearing. We’ve only just cut the umbilical cord of the fall movie season, but if Zombieland is any indication, it looks like we’re in for a happy and healthy couple of months.
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