Cinema Eye with Masai: Zombieland



Acting: 3.5/4

Directing: 4/4

Writing: 4/4

Total: 3.5/4







“How is it that ‘Zombieland' is so full of life?”



It's Oscar season again, folks, and what better

way to celebrate than to watch a gross, funny zombie movie? In the midst of Oscar

season, Zombieland is everything that Oscar hates.

It's crude, lewd, obnoxious, and gory,

and it's absolutely proud of itself. It's also one of

the funniest and best movies I've seen this year.

Brilliantly acted, writing that always keeps you on

your toes and visuals that will make you feel as if

you're part of the chase, Zombieland is a land

full of life.


The setting is an Earth that has been taken

over by zombies. The movie may never tell you why

that is but so what? Does it really matter? It focuses

on Columbus (the nerdy and spectacular Jesse

Eisenberg),Tallahassee (the always stellar Woody

Harrelson), Wichita (sexy femme fatale Emma Stone)

and Little Rock (indie fluff Abigail Breslin), four

survivors who travel across America looking for

other survivors and, of course, more zombies to

kill. They're named after their destinations because

no one wants to get too attached, lest they have to

shoot their new found friends a new air hole in

their brain. Let me just say that all four of

the main actors in the movie fit into their

characters perfectly, especially Harrelson,

who's no stranger to guns and the shaved head,

who has one of the best scenes in the

movie as he locks himself in an amusement park

shooting gallery, killing hundreds of zombies with

just two pistols and Eisenberg, who narrates the

movie as well as sharing his rules on how to

survive, including #1: Cardio, #2: Double Tap and

#32: Enjoy The Little Things. They all make this

movie work because they handle the material

beautifully, they all look great with guns

and even if you take out the zombies, this would

still be a thoroughly enjoyable road comedy. The

zombies are just there to give it a little meaty (haha)

flavor.


The visual presentation is phenomenal. The

opening credits are done in stylish slow motion and

the zombies themselves look like living balls of pus,

always bursting at the seams, which is, of course,

great. The writing is also very stellar. Penned by

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the script is full of

pop culture references and more zombie jokes

than you can shake a dead arm at. The characters

are always blasting out one-liners like buckshot

and the celebrity cameo is the best I've seen in any

movie this year. The direction is also spectacular.

Ruben Fleischer directs this zombie road

movie with an eye for fun and mayhem, not just

gross-outs, although they do help, but not on their

own. This is the perfect antidote to all the Oscar

bait that will undoubtedly be released as

the year comes to a close. Grab yourself a Twinkie

and a rifle and fasten that seatbelt. It'll be a

mindless, funny and bumpy ride.