Review: Zombieland

Zombieland: 4 1/2 stars (out of 5)




By: Jamie Z

Zombieland is the zaney but light tale of four people who are trying to survive post-apocalyptic (read: zombie outbreak) America. The main character and narrator Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) starts off traveling alone through "zombieland" the name he has given to a now creature-infested world. He begins by giving us some rules on how to survive such as beware bathrooms, wear your seatbelt, and double-tap (because they're never dead the first time). Using his rules, Columbus is making his way back home to see if his parents are still alive.

Each character in zombieland is named after the place they are from. Columbus first meets up with the ridiculously amusing Tallahassee (played by a loveable Woody Harrelson). Armed with guns, shovels, and other unidentifiable weapons the two head East, Columbus hoping to make it home to Ohio and Tallahassee hoping to get his hands on a long-desired Twinkie.

After being conned a few times by Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigal Breslin), the two eventually join up creating a group of 4 that is now traveling westward towards an amusement park. On the way the encounter more zombies and Bill Murray (who provided an excellent cameo appearance and even poked fun at himself).

Zombieland is better than all of those other zombie movies in that in lacks the end-of-the-world dramatics or evil corporations with even more evil motives. Instead, it is a light-hearted tale of friendship, romance, and survival. The zombies just make it better. Every performance was perfectly done (the cast was amazingly choosen, I must say) even down to the hilarious cameo from Amber Heard in the beginning. It must be fun playing a zombie.

Jesse Eisenberg is endearing and likeable while Woody Harrelson's boyish insanity balences out Columbus's mature levelheadedness. Emma Stone is, as usual, cute and funny while Abigal Breslin proves that she is just as good an actress at 12 as she was at 9.

The simplicity and originality of Zombieland truely sets it apart from other movies and makes it enjoyable for all ages. Zombieland teaches us the most important rule of all, number 32: Enjoy the little things.



Images from IMDB.com