Wick's Review

Summary - Very Good 3.5

Zombie movies aren’t my thing – but comedies are – and this zombie comedy rocks. Amply LOL and with relatively few clunkers, it’s consistently if not convulsively funny. Gross too, but the whole zombie shtick – what with the blood vomit and cannibalism – is so over-the-top as to be funny after a while.

Inspired by Shaun of the Dead, the granddaddy of zombie comedies and a Trust Weighted Perfect movie, this Made in the USA vehicle gets great mileage from spoofing Hollywood and our SUV-mobile consumer society, to pick two All American targets.

Acting - Very Good 3.5

Woody Harrelson & Jesse Eisenberg make appealingly mismatched buddies, each thick in his own way. More importantly, these proven comic actors know how to set up and bring home their bits. Woody’s performance recalls his infamous turn in Natural Born Killers. Speaking of careers, Eisenberg’s is burgeoning, notwithstanding that he’s somewhat stuck in amusement park movies: Adventureland and now Z-Land.

Emma Stone & Abigail Breslin make a cute and clever sister act. Big sis Stone wields her huge brown doe eyes like man melting lasers. Lil sis Breslin proved herself an accomplished actress as Little Miss Sunshine. She doesn’t disappoint here.

Amber Heard easily plays the hottie next door, impressing more than she did in Pineapple Express.

As for the famous comic actor who cameos in the middle of the movie: “Who you gonna call?”

Film - Great 4.0

A zombie newbie, I found the number of bits you can get from them something of a revelation. For starters, they’re “people” you’re supposed to kill, so they create a legalized serial killing vibe, where solid citizens go around offing their zombie brethren. In some cases they start off normal – even attractive – before turning into dark and dangerous creatures, a not unfamiliar situation to anyone who’s ever been in a bad relationship. Lastly, they leave society empty, making cars, mansions and Twinkies free for the taking.

In short, nihilism is benign in Zombieland. Hollywood loves nihilism in most any form, so benign nihilism is their kind of harmless fun. Zombie Kill of the Week? You bet.

Edge - Risqué 2.0

Deserves its R rating, but the absurd violence is more tongue-in-cheek than stake-in-heart.

Reality - Surreal 3.0

How is it that zombies are superhuman strong yet deathly sick? Hell, most of them probably couldn’t masticate their way through a good sized Porterhouse prior to becoming a zombie, yet once bitten they readily cannibalize the still-living without so much as breaking a tooth. I’m just saying.

Not surprisingly there are rules for this: The Unwritten Rules of Zombie Movies

Lastly, how do you get so much zombie action in a movie like this? Makeup and stunt players. While only half a dozen actors were named in the credits, a full 40 stunt names rolled by as the theater emptied. Did they audition by doing the Herman Munster straight-arm, droopy-hand walk?

1 Comment

• Wick Jan 2, 2010 10:22PM

  Regarding John A Massie’s Review
  “cliched zombie monets” or “cliched zombie moments”?

  Either way, good review.

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