Zombieland (2009)

"...wicked fun.  Claudia Puig, USA Today
"Warts, entrails and all, I had a ball at Zombieland.  Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Editor's Note A cowardly shut-in named Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is forced to join up with a seasoned zombie-slayer named Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) in order to survive the zombie apocalypse. As Tallahassee sets out on a mission to find the last Twinkie on Earth, the duo meets up with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), two young girls who have resorted to some rather unorthodox methods to survive amidst the chaos. Reluctant partners in the battle against the undead, all four soon begin to wonder if it might be better to simply take their chances alone.

	Jesse Eisenberg
	Emma Stone
	Abigail Breslin
	Amber Heard
	Woody Harrelson
	Paul Wernick - Executive Producer
	Michael Bonvillain - Director of Photography
	Dave Sardy - Composer
	Ezra Swerdlow - Executive Producer
	Paul Wernick - Screenwriter
	Gavin Polone - Producer
	Everett D. Reese II - Executive Producer
	Rhett Reese - Screenwriter
	Ruben Fleischer - Director

Hollywood Reporter
?ZOMBIELAND has its tongue planted firmly in its rancid cheek while still delivering the visceral goodies.? 09/25/2009

Variety
?Eisenberg?s often inspired neurotic dithering recalls the likes of early Gene Wilder, while Harrelson again proves himself an actor willing to go out on any limb...? 09/27/2009

USA Today
"This road movie/horror flick/dark comedy/earnest romance/action film hybrid laces a gentle drollness through all the bloody mayhem....Mostly, it's just wicked fun." 10/02/2009

Box Office
4.5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t is very funny, reaching comic perfection when Bill Murray pops up to play himself in a truly inspired cameo." 09/30/2009

Wall Street Journal
"[T]he filmmakers sustain an impressively high level of sillinesss....The cast sinks its teeth into juicy material with steadfast zest." 10/02/2009

Chicago Sun-Times
3 stars out of 4 -- "The filmmakers show invention and well-tuned comic timing..." 10/02/2009

Los Angeles Times
"There are plenty of exploding heads, sure, but while there are a number of gross-outs and jolts in it, ZOMBIELAND is mostly about character-based laughs." 10/02/2009

A.V. Club
"[I]t focuses on the comic possibilities of four misfits indulging their most cherished fantasies under the bleakest circumstances imaginable....The filmmakers get a lot of mileage out of Harrelson's amusingly over-the-top means of dispatching the undead..." -- Grade: B 10/01/2009

Rolling Stone
3 stars out of 4 -- "Director Ruben Fleischer mixes fright and slapstick with bloody glee." 10/15/2009

Entertainment Weekly
"At the bone, ZOMBIELAND is a polished, very funny road picture...starring four likable actors..." -- Grade: B 10/09/2009

Premiere
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "A perfect mix of comedy, horror, and action, making it the most innovative and enjoyable zombie movie since SHAUN OF THE DEAD." 02/02/2010

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "ZOMBIELAND is about as much fun as you can have at the end of the world....Rarely has a post-apocalyptic flick been so appealingly unhinged in its pursuit of pleasure." 02/23/2010

ReelViews 8 of 10
Simply put, most horror films are not scary. There are exceptions, of course, but those are increasingly rare. I think the last horror movie that had me on edge may have been The Mist, and that was released two years ago. Nevertheless, the genre remains incredibly popular, so what better way to populate it than with movies that recognize the comedic potential of many staple horror situations? What was once an obscure and often derided cinematic category, the "horror comedy," has come into its own. Films like Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, Don Coscarelli's Bubba Ho-Tep, Michele Soavi's Cemetery Man, and (most obviously) Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Shaun of the Dead have paved a path that allows productions like Zombieland to make their road trips with ease. The key with this movie, as with the others (and many more like it) is that, although there are "boo!" moments and gore, comedy always trumps horror. The production wants viewers to laugh; if they leave the theater without doing so, the filmmakers have failed to do their jobs. Zombieland is funny - sometimes very funny - and has a clever script. Director Ruben Fleischer, making his feature debut, and screenwriters Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick have accomplished what they set out to achieve...One thing I appreciate about Zombieland is that it doesn't ignore the concept of character development. Don't misunderstand - these are by no means fully realized, three-dimensional entities; however, they are more than caricatures. Each has some nice moments and an investment is made in creating bonds and relationships. Fleischer and his screenwriters don't fumble the ball the way the filmmakers do in about 90% of comedies and horror movies by making the characters little more than animated props - punch-line targets or splatter-fodder. By the time Zombieland reached its climax, I actually cared about who lived and died, and that reaction honestly took me by surprise. So, while I will admit that Zombieland isn't an especially good horror movie, it succeeds in enough different ways that such a defect hardly matters. - James Berardinelli