Zombieland: A Movie Review

I like to post movie reviews when I've seen something worth talking about, good or bad. Zombieland delivers what it promises, but don't believe all the hype.

In a world where most everyone is a zombie, a few humans unaffected by the virus that turned everyone mucho disgusto manage to work together on what is basically a road trip of a movie.

The casting really worked. Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin were terrific. The action was decent, but the pacing felt off. The characters have a destination in mind but are sidetracked by some funny but unnecessary scenes that slowed down the pace for me. And I still don't get the huge scene with a big star toward the end. That really made little sense except to act as filler. Kind of goofy, and it detracted from the movie.

The gore factor is high. Harrelson kills as many zombies as he can in the most disgusting fashion. I liked it. So what does that say about me? The movie isn't scary at all. Its comedic tones work well. There were several moments where I had to work REALLY hard to suspend disbelief. Like, if you're going to avoid detection from an entire city of zombies, would you really power up a theme park that can be seen and heard for miles? And how did they power the thing up in the first place if people aren't around to make the electricity work? And how did they ride the rides without someone there to turn them on? Or do the rides run on a timer? Ack. That last scene really bugged me.

My biggest problem is that this movie was hyped to be so incredible when in reality it was entertaining but not stellar. I didn't leave gasping, thoughtful, or overwhelmed with feeling, not that I anticipated being weepy or anything. But sometimes when you see a movie that's great, it stays with you for a while after seeing it. Mine felt like a Chinese meal. Five minutes after seeing it, I was hungry for something more.

All in all, I can't complain. For two hours I was entertained, though I wish I would have paid the matinee fee instead.

Overall, B+.