After Adventureland I thought I could safely put Jessie Eisenberg's carni character James Brennan safely in my memory bank somewhere between nostalgia and young adult angst, and there he would stay safely tucked in a warm retrospective blanket. Then, not even a year later, comes along Zombieland (2009) where Eisenberg is back in a theme park, this time he is named Columbus and now instead of learning about life, love and friendship he is being chased by horrific zombies trying to rip his larynx from his throat.
So I have adjusted enough to try and review Zombieland on its own merits. And what I have come up with is that this film is a fun, ultra-stylized, kinetic piece that ultimately feels hollow. Right from the get go director Ruben Fleischer pulls no punches when it comes to declaring exactly what your expectations should be. It starts out with some ultra-realistic gore, and then transitions to a sequence where Columbus is explaining to the audience the rules of surviving zombies. It is like Fleischer, right out of the gate says "have fun with this movie, if you don't you are missing the point, idiot". Maybe he wasn't as hostile about it, but I need to make my points too.
And I did had a lot of fun with the movie. Every self referential, winking moment made me either laugh or smile. Zombieland is a series of great "look how fun we are making post-apocalyptic zombie ridden society sequences", especially (SPOILER ALERT) the great Bill Murray cameo.
Eisenberg is good hear, but we have seen him play this virgin ridden character before. I hope he doesn't fall into the Michael Cera trap where he gets type cast, because he is way to talented for that. Woody Harrelson has never been more entertaining as a man who has found his true calling in killing zombies. And what really translates is it seems like everyone involved was having just as much fun making it as I was watching it.
Where Zombieland fell short for me and where a movie like Shawn of the Dead ultimately works is with the balance between the characterization and the reality of the world they are in. I felt with Zombieland they had the opportunity to actually incorporate a plot and form some real relationships between the characters, but instead any plot or relationship was just their to connect the clever zombie related incidents.
It is certainly not a waste of time to watch Zombieland because while you are watching it you will be entertained, but if you are like me will long for something more.
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