Friday Night Frights: Zombieland DVD Review

Narrorated by Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Zombieland is the story of 4 survivors of the zombie plague (aka mad cow disease). Initially the four pair off and develop an instant distrust of each other but as the zombie hordes attack they learn that they must somehow bond together if they are going to survive.

College student/loner Columbus starts the movie by covering, in gory detail, his rules for survival and the reason behind them. By the time he hits rule 4, I was totally rivited by the fantastic camerawork and ample gore on the screen. As he walks down the road, rolling suitcase in tow he meets up with free spirit Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) who has perfected several different means for effectively dispatching zombies.
Lonely, the two agree to become temporary travelling partners, at least until they reach a point in Texas where their paths split as they each travel toward “home.” As the two roll down the car littered highway in Tallahassee’s modified Cadillac that now includes a snow blade for clearing the road they stop occasionally in the hopes of finding a particular snack cake that Tallahassee misses greatly and fears he may never experience again. On one such trip the unlikely duo discover a pair of sisters who are dubbed Witchita and Little Rock (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin) who are also headed elsewhere where it is rumored to be zombie free. If you haven’t figured it out, at Tallahassee’s urging, no one uses their real name, instead taking on the name of their destination. That’s really about all the plot you need to whet your appetite as I don’t want to spoil the fun for those who haven’t experienced Zombieland yet.

I really loved this movie! Circumstances prevented me from seeing this in the theaters last year so I have been eagerly awaiting the Home Video release. Aside from one out of place sequence in the middle that seemed forced, the pacing was excellent and the storyline, although basic, is a lot of fun.

The special effects are excellent and practical and computer generated effects are blended nicely to deliver a gory romp across America. The cinematography is fantastic and even in standard format, the visuals are great. I will be buying the Blu Ray when it is released to see how it looks, especially the opening sequence, in 1080p.

As a funny, original zombie themed comedy, Zombieland understandably draws a lot of comparison to Shaun of the Dead, the trailblazer in zomedy (sorry, after seeing how stupid that looked in print I promise to avoid the cutesy genre name combinations for the rest of my life!) Anyway, unlike Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland is first and foremost a buddy movie that focuses on the developing friendship between the odd couple of Columbus and Tallahassee. Zombies set the stage but are more background than constant threat in much of the film. In other words, we really don’t have the typical group of survivors who get picked off and change into zombies that most movies feature. Other than a brief appearance by Amber Heard and a cameo that I will not name as to not spoil the film, Little Rock and Witchita are actually the only other living characters in the film.

I am usually indifferent to Jesse Eisenberg’s nerdy quirky characters such as Charlie Banks and Adventureland. This time around though, Columbus is the perfect straight man to Woody Harrelson’s perfectly played wildman, Tallahassee. The two work well off of each other, displaying a perfect timing that has me hoping for a Zombieland 2 announcement. Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin are ok as the street smart con artist sisters, however they are not the stars of the film as Harrelson and Eisenberg easily outshine them whenever on screen.

There are a lot of special features included in this release, including a packed room commentary track featuring stars, writers and the director, all chiming in to discuss the film. I was suprised that this many people could have a commentary discussion without devolving into people talking over each other or just clamming up altogether. Instead we are treated to a coherant, entertaining commentary is present, with each person speaking about their areas of experience and expertise in making the film. Next up is Zombieland is Your Land, a 12 minute making of featurette. It mainly focuses on the sets of the movie and location shooting. In Search of Zombieland focuses on the origins of the movie and how it was originally intended as a television pilot. Clocking in at just over 15 minutes, this is one of the most interesting extras included. The “Visual Effects Progression Scenes” is a fancy way of showing the different stages of several film sequences from shooting through the added effects to the finished print. The theatrical trailers are a series of clips of stars Eisenberg and Harrelson sharing zombie survival tips with the audience.

Zombieland really lived up to the hype for me, as the zombie genre was really due for a shot in the arm movie to offset all the recent movies of varying budgets being released. It is a cleverly done movie that takes an original approach to life after the apocalypse so to speak. I recommend at least a rental but horror fans will not be disappointed if they cold purchase it. Oh, and don’t go by the quotes on the package. Neither “Superbad Meets Shaun of the Dead” or “Funniest Comedy Since The Hangover” do the film justice. There is no elements of Superbad outside of the friendship of the two main characters in this movie nor does it really compare to the Hangover… I know that I will catch hell for this, but if you are going to play the blender games to describe the film, instead of name dropping names of recent hits, lets go for something a little more accurate like…Lethal Weapon meets Last Man on Earth…yeah, that’s what I would go with.

Recommended

Special Features:

• Deleted Scenes
• Commentary with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Ruben Fleischer, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
• In Search of Zombieland
• Zombieland is Your Land
• Visual Effects Progression Scenes
• Theatrical Trailers

Zombieland is available on DVD, Blu Ray and PSP beginning on February 2nd courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.