Zombieland

[thehats]

Hysterical.
Gorey.
America's answer to "Shaun of the Dead". (By the way, if you have not seen that movie... zombie movie fan or not, you're missing out on one of the funniest movies of the last decade.)


It's less about zombies and more about the people in the zombie infested world. They really take the time to give you a feel for how each character is reacting to the scourge of the living dead. Sure there's plenty of zombie situations, but most of the time is spent on these 4 people who meet by chance 2 months after the U.S. turns into the united states of zombies. Lots of time is spent either on the highway in an SUV, or in a house they squat in.

These are stupid zombies, and because of that our protagonists, for the most part, are left alone with us long enough to actually care about them instead of sitting on edge wondering "which one gets killed next? and how?!".
That's the big departure from standard zombie fare- the viewer is given time alone with the people instead of a CONSTANT zombie presence, and the viewer becomes more concerned with how the characters are doing and reacting instead of sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for a cheap zombie-in-the-closet or zombie-coming-from-nowhere-and-biting-a-character moment.

The cast was great. Overall, Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson shine the brightest, though. It's impossible for one person to steal this movie, but Woody Harrelson comes pretty damn close. I forget the two girls names at the moment, but its the cute chick who threw the party in Superbad and the little girl from Little Miss Sunshine.

The opening sequence and credits montage itself was entertaining. If you have seen the amazing opening credits from "Watchmen" this year (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=573XmVOdD2Q&fmt=18), it's like that only... zombified!
Also, while watching this I kept noticing how much I really really like High-Def Slo-Mo. It is used so well not only for the opening sequence, but throughout the entire movie. A director and cinematographer that really truly cares about film was in charge of this, and it shows in every action scene. In actuality, these slow-mo scenes were probably only a few seconds of actual filiming, but they make for glorious 5-10 second clips. It looks as if thousands of individual frames were perfectly directed to get the exact scene that someone imagined in their head.

The 'Rules for surviving in Zombieland' are well done and unique. (At times, this feels like someone took "The Zombie Survival Guide" and decided to make a movie around it.) Whenever one of the 'rules' is used on screen, the director makes sure we know. Haven't seen anything like that done in a movie before, and it results more than a few laughs.

There's a cameo in here that's pretty good too. I'll have to see it a few more times, but it just might be funnier than Tom Cruise's cameo in "Tropic Thunder", so if you see this keep a close lookout.
edit: No, I'm gonna say it, it is funnier than Tom Cruise's amazing cameo in Tropic Thunder.

Finally, move over Michael Cera! There's a new kid on the block, and his name Jesse Eisenberg. Ulike Cera, who seems to have only one sheepy, nebbish character, Eisenberg seems like a fully fleshed out human being while still pulling off the socially-awkward schtick with great results. This kid is going places, mark my words!