Zombieland: The Uncut Critique

I cannot say that I am happy with the Arts and Entertainment editor of ICC's Harbinger student news paper. My review for "Zombieland" is the second one in which he has cut out my introduction (the other being my review of for "Inglourious Basterds"), and after reviewing the finer points of my last review also, he does not feel it necessary to include my knowledge and personal opinions to further rave about why one should see the films.

If my reviews were over a page long, I'd understand. Heck, I cannot say that I'd be miffed if he cut out 46 words to make it an even five hundred. But without incite into my incites, my reviews are no better than those of quote whores (since he also decided to omit mentioning that I wrote a negative review for "The Informant!") and as bland as the reviews the Journal Star pulls off the AP wire to simply have movie reviews.

And I believe that what is omitted is done to allow an image that takes up too much space in the paper that is relative to the film. It was a virtual spread for Brad Pitt in my "Basterds" review that did not share the page with any other stories in it's issue. When it comes to my "Zombieland "review, it seemed unnecessary to put the image featured in the review when it was already used on the front page of the paper.

We read the opinions of certain critics not because they are good critics, but because the great critics have their personality attached to them. I maybe damning future publication in this section of the Harbinger by saying that my articles are not news and I'm not a journalist. They are suppose to be an expression of who is writing it, not the paper that wants to avoid offending anyone at all cost. If I wanted to write bland stuff like what I feel my reviews have been treated, I would not have dropped Creative Writing with instructor C....

CHRISTINA/KINDA/CRAZY

Alright. Enough ranting, let me get to what you all came to see, my review for the Jesse Eisenberg vehicle, "Zombieland."

It has been too long since an American zombie movie worthy of mainstream attention was released, but "Zombieland" fills that void. Graphic violence, never taking itself too seriously, and ridiculous premises make this movie what director Zack Snyder ("Watchmen", "300") was trying to capture with his 2004 remake of "Dawn of the Dead".

In the not so distant future, the zombie apocalypse has occurred. It has turned the United States into Zombieland, a place where people are only known by the city they are trying to reach so that no one gets too attached to potential meals to the undead.

This is a story about Columbus Ohio (Jessie Eisenberg), a paranoid, Mountain Dew Code Red drinking, WOW obsessed underclassman who is hoping to make friends and find his family for the first time in his life. He’s stays alive by following his 32 rules to survive zombie attacks and befriending Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a crazed zombie killer in search of the last package of Twinkies in existence. After they are hijacked by the sisters Wichita and Little Rock (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin), they all decide that Southern California and its Pacific Playland Amusement Park is the perfect location to celebrate their survival skills.

"Zombieland" is very similar at least in spirit to "Shaun of the Dead", but is definitely not as subtle or restrained with its humor. Like Sam Raimi’s "Evil Dead" trilogy, all of the gore is suppose to be humorous in some form, but the humor beyond that is constant throughout the film, and there is no reason for the audience to stop laughing out loud throughout it.

This film follows all of the rules to a great zombie film, and the violence featured is never wasted. It is actually closer in attitude to the original "Dawn of the Dead". There is always to be fun from enjoying unbridled consumption (Woody Harrelson’s brilliant performance emphasizes that), but in the end a realization that there is something more important than being comfortable. Snyder’s remake focused so much on shocking the audience that he only glanced over these elements in a single montage. The most glaring flaw of Snyder’s film is that he does not take time to use to have fun with the limited space the characters are confined to. A zombie trying to survive an amusement park is far more entertaining than buses trying to escape a parking deck.

The ultimate irony of "Zombieland" is that director Ruben Fleischer is able to capture the film using a style very reminiscent to Snyder’s great comic book movies. "Zombieland" feels like there is a great mind for film behind the camera instead of a guy best known for working on the crews of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and writing episodes of MTV2’s "Rob and Big".

"Zombieland" is a celebration of gore and humor that is brilliantly captured on film. Because the film focuses on having fun with graphic violence while "Shaun of the Dead" was more of a parody of the genre, this may not only be the best zombie comedy of the decade, but the best zombie film since "28 Days Later". I hope your cardio (zombie survival rule #1) is good, because fans of comedy should rush to see "Zombieland".