
There’s a decent sized group of horror movie buffs who attribute great cultural insight to any number of films. There’s apparently social commentary in just about every inch of George Romero’s work and Dracula as well as Frankenstein’s monster are men out of time. Who knew.
When a movie comes along, still adhering to a great many of the genre’s finest points, that chooses to eschew any sort of artistic pretense, it should be noted. And yeah, that might be a bit difficult today, I’m sure Saw is somehow relevant to the world’s hunger problems or something, but Zombieland is so void of any proper intent that even such a meaningless film should be thought of as stellar entertainment. Well, if you’re loaded at least.
And speaking of loaded, the film stars Woody Harrelson, renowned for his love of oxygen and weed going so far as to do voice over for Grass a few years back. Regardless of whether or not Mr. Harrelson hit the bong a few times before taking the starring role here, the movie’s introduction is far more shocking than such a huge star working a picture like this.
Littered with body parts and oozing blood, Zombieland’s opening moments almost misrepresent what’s to follow. That’s not to say there’s a spate of love scenes and bunnies that follow, but with Harrelson being accompanied by Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus there’s a thick stench of Michael Cera on this project. And while that type of character is readily inserted into any number of films like this, ready to turn hero, Eisenberg’s a bit obnoxious.
There’s pretty immediately a love sub plot after viewers are clued in on the zombie plague spreading through out Florida. And when Emma Stone, who plays Wichita, shows up everyone should be able to catch on as to what’s set to transpire. Of course, castigating a zombie film for having a predictable sub plot is just short of ludicrous. But at times during the zombie killing and Columbus making eyes at his female counter part, viewers might get a bit bored.
That’s probably what’ Harrelson’s for, though. He doesn’t turn in a performance that should be shocking to anyone – it’s solid, middle of the road stuff. His tough guy stance is a bit ridiculous as is his constant cowboy hat to obscure that damnable baldness. But it all turns out as it should which is a satisfying end to a cheaply made film focusing on the undead.
