Welcome to Zombieland
2. Beware of Bathrooms
3. Wear a Seatbelt
8. Get a Kick Ass Partner
15. Know Your Way Out
17. Don't Be a Hero
18. Limber Up
23. God Bless Rednecks
31. Check the Backseat
These are just a few of the rules that one must follow to survive in "Zombieland." There is no more Los Angeles, Austin, or Phoenix...only Zombieland, according to the lone survivors of a zombie outbreak, caused by a mad-cow disease like virus. The movie follows Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a college student and self-described loser who attributes his survival to the fact that he actually lived like a zombie his whole life; a loner with no strong ties to family or friends, spending his time indoors playing World of Warcraft and drinking Code Red Mountain Dew. Columbus discovers that when the whole world turns into the walking-dead that he actually longs for human contact. Luckily he ventures outside of his dorm-room and meets hillbilly-badass, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) who is trolling the former United States in search of a Twinkie. It's Tallahassee's idea to only be referred to by their former hometowns and not their real names...knowing someone's name makes it much more difficult to eventually kill them or watch them turn zombie.
We see scenes of crazy zombie killings as Columbus and Tallahassee review their favorite "Zombie Kills of the Week." Tallahasse keeps an arsenal of weapons and likes to use a new tool (such as guns, farming equipment, a banjo) to keep his zombie kills exciting. Tallahassee says, "My mother always said I'd be good at something. I don't think she could have guessed that something would be zombie killing." As if things aren't already interesting enough they run into a couple of con-women sisters, Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). With not much else going for them, they all travel together to California to head to an amusement park, "You've just survived the zombie apocalypse, what are you going to do now?!" "Go to Pacific Playland!" Of course their trip is not without a few bumps in the road and a couple thousand hungry zombies after their flesh.
This film, directed by Ruben Fleischer, is nothing short of the ultimate movie-going experience. The film is equal parts comedy, gore, action and drama. It's so smartly written. My favorite part of the movie is the recurring theme of displaying the rules. Columbus introduces the rules in the beginning of the movie, but as it goes on you start to see the rules actually being utilized in the intense action scenes. The use of extreme slow motion makes the zombies with blood dripping from their faces even more disgusting. The movie delivers the most hilarious and shocking cameo in a feature film in a long time. Without spoiling it, let's just say that it had the audience screaming with laughter.
There is something fundamental that keeps people interested in zombie movies. Would you survive in this situation? Would you even want to survive? What lengths would you go to survive when you have absolutely nothing left? With the ever-pending threat of viral epidemics (Swine Flu anyone?) it makes people question if this could ever happen. Ok, maybe not people, but me. I always say I'm so fascinated by zombies because I want to learn how to survive in this type of situation. I am so intrigued and terrified by post-apocalyptic situations that I can't help but immerse myself in movies and books of that subject matter. I hate scary movies but I find myself wanting to watch movies like "The Mist" (worst ending of a movie, ever, by the way) and reading guy-books like Stephen King's "The Stand," and Cormac McCarthy's, "The Road" which happens to be coming out in theaters in November.
"Zombieland" does not disappoint and puts a light-hearted spin on a terrible situation. If you need anymore reason to see this awesome movie, watch the trailer and I'm sure you'll be convinced.