Zombieland

There’s been a zombie renaissance of late. After over a decade without anything zombie related in popular culture I’m fairly certain that it began on the internet and then quickly moved onto the big screen. First came “28 Days Later” and “Shaun of the Dead,” and then the remake of “Dawn of the Dead” and it was official, zombies were back. Now it’s gotten to the point where even classic literature is being reinterpreted to include the undead ("Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"). The fundamentals of the genre are pretty simple, extreme violence tempered with social commentary. The newest film to take the zombie helm is the aptly titled “Zombieland.”

“Zombieland” takes place in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, in which four strangers must learn to trust each other in order to survive. But more than that it’s a highly entertaining and genuinely funny movie accompanied by some of the most breathtaking slow motion shots of undead carnage ever captured. It seamlessly satirizes the whole genre while also managing to advance it. Presumably, if you haven’t been turned away by that fact that this is a film about the walking dead, then it more than fulfills all your expectations. The gore is some of the best there is; the violence and mayhem are dynamite. The film doesn’t have much of a plot but does have fairly interesting characters to go along with all the blood and guts. The best of which is portrayed by Woody Harrelson. Harrelson is too good in this movie, as he is in most things. The other actors do a fine job as well, but Harrelson clearly steals the show. The film is pure entertainment for its own sake, and is full of more than enough laughs. At one point it pays homage to another supernatural comedy “Ghostbusters,” in an odd and almost out of place yet hilarious scene. For whatever this film was trying to achieve it could not have done it better.

Zombie’s are in danger of becoming overdone and passé, but they aren’t there quite yet. This film is genuinely one of the best zombie movies of the past few years. At first I thought it would just be an americanized “Shaun of the Dead,” but it stands on its own merit as a really outstanding blend of comedy and violence. Obviously this isn’t a film for everyone, but as long as you can understand just how much fun it can be to watch a zombie rip apart a person with its bear hands, or a person blow away a zombie with a shot gun then you’re going to love this movie, guaranteed.