Zombieland (2009) Review

An outbreak of a virus sees a shy and awkward student trying to get back home to Ohio to see if any of his family have survived. On the way he teams up with tough guy Tallahassee who is searching for the final Twinkie! Then add in a pair of sisters who are trying to get to an amusement park as rumour has it that it is zombie free!

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Why on earth had I never made the effort to watch this film before? That was something I was thinking even ten minutes into the film. This really is such an unexpectedly great film. The incredible four leads really were amazing and worked so well together. Representing different people struggling to come to terms with the world now being Zombieland, battling to survive alone but then actually realising they are all better off together as a group or a newly formed strange family unit. Although that does take a little bit of time, surely when there are not many people left in the world you have to support one another the best you possibly can.

We are not given real names as apparently that makes you too familiar and would keep them together. Hence the place names as nicknames, so Columbus is our unlikely hero as he informs the viewers of his key rules for survival in Zombieland. The fact that he was rather reclusive before the whole thing actually helped him in the long run. Wichita and Little Rock are sisters battling to survive at any cost necessary which included screwing the guys over a couple of times as well. It makes you wonder how you would react and if you would fight or flight, could you ever really trust anyone when there’s a chance they could get bitten by a zombie then have very limited time left. So it does offer a little bit more than just being a funny zombie film, it has some interesting messages thrown in with all of that as well, a very enjoyable ride that does not feel that predictable. I would say it is more refreshing than anything else.

I thought this was a really refreshing take on the zombie/comedy style film and works in so many different ways. Not forgetting Bill Murray being involved as well, the way the characters are all fans over him makes it even better as that is how everyone feels about Bill Murray right? Also fair play to the way Murray approached the role of playing himself!

Jesse Eisenberg leads the line pretty well whilst also being the narrator and explaining all about Zombieland. Woody Harrelson was as crazy and brilliant as ever. Emma Stone adds the kick ass female character. Abigail Breslin then adds the younger innocent role. They all create a great balance as the characters are all very different but manage to actually compliment each other at the same time. Having eventually catch up with this I was very happy to learn that we are expecting a sequel in 2019, so it seems I have watched this at the right time really. Certainly a lot of fun!