by James Thompson

Created on: June 29, 2010

There’s nothing zombies like more than to feast on a good manwich, and Zombieland provides a full feast of full on zombie action with plenty of buckshot and gore. You would think that by now all zombie-related films would be the same and people would now be getting tired of them, not this one. A completely fresh approach on the zombie genre, Zombieland acts just like a ‘Survivors Guide’ to survival in a post apocalyptic world.

The film follows Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg – Adventureland), a young man trying to survive the zombie apocalypse based on his list of rules. Along the way he comes across redneck badass Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who is on a mission to find the one thing that will bring him happiness, a Twinkie. Two completely opposite characters brought together in desperate times, Colombus being a bumbling dork who has to follow his rules at all costs for survival and Tallahassee, a man out to kill for fun who has seemingly no reason to live.

As the film progresses, the two begin to bond and then find another two survivors, a smart, conniving pair of sisters named Wichita (Emma Stone – Superbad) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine). They have learnt that in ‘Zombieland’ nobody should be trusted and the only thing that matters is their own survival. Plenty of funny moments result from the meeting between the two pairs, including Tallahasee losing his beloved transportation and all of his weapons he has gathered.

Eventually the four agree to fight the fight together and they must find themselves a safehouse before they set off to what is rumoured to be one of the only places without zombies, the theme park Pacific Playland. They are taken to the house of the one and only Bill Murray along the way and they find out that he has survived through mimicking the zombies with make-up. Whilst at the house, Colombus and Little Rock are watching Ghostbusters in Murray’s movie theatre and Murray thinks it a great idea to scare them both. Hilariously, this ends in disaster and Columbus, unaware of the practical joke, defends himself and shoots Bill Murray, killing him. Murray’s small cameo role is used with great effect and one of the more memorable snippets of the film, brilliantly executed.

The girls then, once again steal the transportation and head towards Pacific Playland on their own, leaving the bumbling males empty handed once again. After plenty of argument and some great memorable quotes from Tallahasee, the guys head towards the theme park, only to find the sisters stuck on a ride, with very hungry zombies awaiting their blood and limbs. Some great action soon heads our way in an attempt to save the ‘damsels in distress’ and the film concludes with the pace never letting down.

Woody Harrelson steals the show in Zombieland with his crazy Twinkie-loving hero Tallahasee, as badass and nuts as they get, Harrelson really gives one of his best performances. The rest of the cast hold the film up well too and are easily believable in everything they do. A great touch to the film is the appliance of Colombus’ rules and the constant reminder of those rules shown on screen after an incident has happened, pure genius. Also, look out for the ‘Zombie Kill of the Week’ moment, showing us a new dimension of zombie killing, absolutely brilliant!

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