| Zombieland | |
 A pretty simple concept and surprisingly brief stay in rom-zom-com land (first seen in Shaun of the Dead) turns out to be one of the most entertaining films of the year. Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) appears to be the last man alive following a viral attack. He's still cowardly and frightened by the zombies around him, but has come up with a strict set of rules which have so far kept him alive. By accident he stumbles across Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) who is an AK-totin’, zombie-slayin’ badass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies. This is a genuinely amusing and at times frightening film which has one of the best cameos ever put on celluloid. It works best if you don't know too much about it before going to see the film, and with that in mind we won't give away who it is in this review... but suffice to say it will make you laugh. HARD. Thankfully the script doesn't rely on this one gimmick alone, and boasts likable characters and great performances all round. Jesse Eisenberg might initially seem like Micheal Cera-lite but actually there are a lot of subtle differences and he does indeed 'man up' believably in his pursuit of Emma Stone's Wichita and when fending off the undead. This transformation is aided by the wonderful Woody Harrelson who goes above and beyond the call of duty as the brutal Tallahassee. The quest for the last Twinkie might get a little tiresome but his fantastically inventive zombie 'kills' more than make up for it.  The film zips by, and if anything that is the only criticism i can find in this otherwise faultless exercise in fun and creative crowd-pleasing. the characters although fully formed don't necessarily have enough of a back story, although to be honest you probably wouldn't want to know too much about them pre-zombies. And what of the Zombies themselves? Yep they are frightening, mildly intelligent and suffer mainly horrendous fates throughout the film. Be it crazy 5 year olds at a birthday party to unsuspecting obese shoppers the violence is turned up to 11. The special effects are excellent, to the extent that you don't notice a lot of them (which is a great thing in a film like this). You get a genuine sense that the planet has been ravaged leaving only our intrepid heroes to roam the Earth. As close to a 5-star film as i'm going to review all year... without giving 5/5. Very VERY good. Rating: **** Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin Review by Cassam Looch |
