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ZOMBIELAND is full of surprises, and they are all good. First off I was completely surprised by the cast. It really is an odd ball assortment. You've got Jessie Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. Not exactly your standard horror film cast. As a matter of fact I am pretty sure that for three of those four this is their first time in any sort of genre fair. It is ingenious casting though as they all play off each other extremely well and they end up being one of the best ensemble casts in a horror film in quite some time.
Some spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution.
We also get treated to a couple of great cameos. One by the lovely AMBER HEARD who plays a neighbor of Columbus ( Eisenberg) who ends up trying to eat him and a truly inspired segment starring the one and only BILL MURRAY who plays himself and other then the excellent kills and carnage may be the high point of the film.
ZOMBIELAND is really at its heart a "road" picture, a "buddy" film. We meet up with Columbus (Eisenberg) and quickly learn the ins and outs of ZOMBIELAND. Seems that they as been an outbreak, a human form of MAD COW DISEASE that has quickly turned the majority of the population of the United States into flesh eating maniacs. The only reason Columbus is still alive is because of his rules, he has a rule for everything and he explains them all as the film progresses. Columbus is a nerd, a virgin, a computer geek and is on his way east to try and see if his family has survived the madness. Outside of Austin TX. he hooks up with Tallahassee amazingly portrayed by Woody Harrelson. Tallahassee is a gung ho, ass kicking, zombie killing machine taking great pride in the way the he dispenses of the undead and is forever in search of a Twinkie, yeah a Twinkie. It's a funny side story that flows through the film till the very end.
So, you've probably noticed by now that everyone is named after a city. Tallahassee doesn't think anyone should use their real names so that way you can't get to attached. Along the way the guys meet up with a pair of sisters. Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Breslin). The sisters scam the two guy and make off with their weapons and ride. The dudes find more of each though and are soon back on yhe road this time heading west as Tallahassee wants revenge on the two grils, and is still look for a Twinke.
As fate would have it they once again come across our two sisters and are once again scammed by them and loose their car and weapons. This time they decide to stick together though and the four head west, to LA where the girls are heading to an amusement park in an attempt to keep some sort of normalcy in all the zombie outbreak madness. They make it to Hollywood after a series of quite funny altercations along the way and by using a map of stars homes end up at Bill Murray's estate.
While at Murray's place they find Bill very much alive but in a great scene Columbus accidentally kills him. The stuff at Murray's estate is by far the best scenes in the film. Surprising, hilarious stuff.
During the night the sisters sneak off to find the amusement park that they came all this way for. They find it, turn on all the rides and quickly attract every zombie in a 20 mile radius. The quickly find themselves trapped a top one of the rides, a horde of flesh eaters attempting to get access to them.
Back at the house the guys, having discovered the girls have left decide to break up. Columbus is going after the girls as he has become attracted to Wichita and Tallahassee has decided he is done with this shit and heading to Mexico. While watching Columbus attempt to "nut up" he decides to srcap the trip to Mexico and help Columbus get the girls.
The final scenes of the film take place at the amusement park as the guy arrive and find the girls trapped. All sorts of assorted coolness takes place when Columbus and Tallahassee kick all kinds of zombie butt and save the day.
The kills are amazingly choreographed and done with that tongue in cheek humor that are a staple of so many great horror films. The gore flows freely and no punches are pulled. This is a horror film, just a funny one.
I enjoyed the hell out of ZOMBIELAND and it is one of those films that with repeated viewings you keep finding great lines or kills that you missed on previous viewings. I highly recommend giving it a spin.
As far as special features, there are plenty. The mandatory commentary track, a couple of behind the scenes features, you know the drill. All the features are well done and entertaining. All in all a very satisfying package.
They left the ending wide open and as you know there is already a planned ZOMBIELAND 2 in the works. This one has franchise written all over it and as long as the writing stays strong and the actors stay on board we could be following the ZOMBIELAND clan around their zombie infested world for years to come.
The time has come, time to "Nut up or shut up" and go get this film.
ZOMBIELAND is available now on DVD and Blu-ray.
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