Wow. Biggest surprise of the year right here. I had gotten pretty excited about Zombieland a few months ago after it got a whole lot of positive buzz at Comic-Con plus possibly the greatest news story of the last few years when Woody Harrelson punched a photographer in the face and his excuse was "naturally, I thought it was a zombie." Really though I just got excited in the sense of "Hey...Woody Harrelson is awesome, and zombies are awesome...I'm in." If you read my previous post from a month or so ago on zombies, I had some thoughts as to why I still think there's life in the zombie genre (the irony...) as long as it's done well. I could not have prepared for the sheer amount of awesome that this movie contained.
The thing that makes this movie succeed is the fact that it's all killer, no filler. It immediately hits the ground running and doesn't let up until the end. The pacing is perfect. They don't bog you down with too much back story or side stories. It's a simple get from point a to point b plot and there's no sense in muddying up the simplicity of that with needless exposition. Director Ruben Fleischer gives you just enough to keep you from asking "wait, why are they doing ____" but doesn't dwell on it. Maybe it's because the only previous directing experience he has is a few episodes of Jimmy Kimmel, and he's used to the short format. I don't know...but it works. The cause of the zombie outbreak and what each of our characters were up to before the outbreak are all explained in short, to-the-point bursts just to satisfy your curiosity. Also, there is an absolutely brilliant use of text titles throughout the movie. Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has this list of rules to survive in Z-land and they constantly present themselves as text in the scene to remind you of the rules when a situation presents itself, which is risky...but it's always in such a hilarious way at just the right moment.
The wit and humor is absolutely relentless throughout the film and it really keeps it moving along nicely. I honestly can't remember the last time I've laughed so hard for so long. Obviously a lot of this is due again to the pacing, and trimming the fat, so all you're left with is gold. But when it comes to comedy it comes down to the performances. You can have the funniest line ever created but if your delivery sucks then it's completely wasted. Everybody was at the top of their game. I feel like it's because they didn't treat it as a comedy. Nobody really felt like they were trying to deliver jokes. It's more of a zombie survival movie with a cast of very quirky characters. This is also why I think Shaun of the Dead works so well.
I was a little concerned at first with Jesse Eisenberg because it kind of seemed like he was trying be Michael Cera with his delivery, but that faded pretty quickly and he made it all his own. Still with the little under-his-breath quips, but still original. Emma Stone definitely plays the more "complicated" of the characters but she pulls it off very well, and looks good doing it. I had only seen her previously in Superbad and The Rocker (what? I saw it for free...), one of which obviously wasn't a leading role and the other of which was pretty much a fluff piece where she didn't really stand out. She actually got a chance to flex some acting muscle here, and her delivery is perfect. Even when the film does focus a bit on the budding romance of her and Columbus (don't worry...it's not very long, and totally fits in the flow of the movie) she does well in those scenes too. Abigail Breslin's just about all grown up too and kicking ass in this film too so that's pretty cool. It goes without saying, though, that the standout is Woody Harrelson. Mainly because he basically just kind of plays a more badass caricature of himself, and really...how can you not win there? I'm sure everybody's been hearing about the mystery cameo as well, and I have to chime in too and say that it is absolutely, hands down, the best cameo ever put on film. I seriously made myself hoarse from laughing so hard during the entire section with him in it. I will not divulge who it is because that would just ruin everything. But seriously, holy crap.
Now, Shaun of the Dead is probably one of my top 10 movies of all time, if not top 5. I couldn't put this one in front of it because Shaun will always hold a special place in my heart because it really opened up the whole genre and introduced me to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who are both absolute genius. I would, however, put Zombieland right up there next to it. It really is not only a just about perfect zombie movie, or a just about perfect comedy, but it's a just about perfect movie. Period. The pacing, the writing, the performances, the title sequence (one of the best ever in my opinion)...everything. It leaves me very excited and curious to see what Ruben Fleischer comes up with next...maybe a sequel? I'm definitely up for some more zombie kills of the week.
