There are a certain type of movie that you don't expect a lot from except that you will have a good time.
Zombieland is certainly that type of movie, and it delivers just that.
From the opening credits, there are crazy images of zombie attacks and victims frightened and running. These are so over-the-top and outlandish that they work from the first one because of how completely goofy it is.
With a clear intent to spoof the horror genre, the film honestly fits the amusement park imagery used in most of the publicity materials. Especially the finale in an amusement park where the quartet of heroes try to lay waste to scores of the undead.
The story follows four unlikely survivors of some type of disease that turns them to the zombies you've seen in so many horror movies. I actually liked that they didn't spend much time trying to explain what caused the zombies because that takes so much time in other zombie movies.
There is a familiar feel to the more serious parts of this movie (yes they are there, even if they are few) if you've ever read The Walking Dead comic books. That is about as big a compliment that could be given to any zombie movie since that series is one of the best zombie tales ever woven.
The lead characters are known to each other only by the cities they each claim to be heading for and are all played well by an oddly eclectic group of Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin.
Let's be honest here, who doesn't love the idea of the little girl from Little Miss Sunshine demolishing undead monsters? It was lots of fun.
All of the lead actors made the film though because of the chemistry that developed through the movie. Stone and Breslin are sisters trying to make their way to a location rumored to be untouched by the infestation. They are using any type of chicanery that will work in order to get there.
Eisenberg and Harrelson are an unlikely pair of neurotic mess and crazy tough guy, respectively, that would make it in to any buddy-cop movie that you watched in the 80s.
These two duos meet up along the way and the good times roll. Eventually.
The story is pretty predictable, but that's what should be expected from a zombie comedy. It delivers on the brutality and clearly doesn't take itself to seriously, so it is a fun time for the entire duration.
I'll give Zombieland a B+.