Zombieland (2009)

Whilst on the IMDB this morning checking the release year for Zombieland, I noticed that the autocomplete box flashed up something called Zombeavers. Maybe I'm jaded, but damned if I didn't feel a little thrill of wishful thinking that I'd watched that in bed last night instead. I wasn't in the mood to seek out something special yesterday, though, so I went with what was on TV because it meant I wouldn't have to leave my nice warm duvet coccoon. 

Oftentimes, this is a good move. I've discovered a lot of really enjoyable mainstream stuff that way that I might otherwise have overlooked - the 2006 Hairspray remake, for example, and Blades of Glory, which surprised me in its general goodheartedness. On the other hand, I've seen Zombieland before (back to back with Adventureland because they both star Jesse Eisenberg and the titles match) so I possibly should have known better.

A lot of people love Zombieland, though, an offshoot of the zomcom subgenre that incorporates elements of the classic road trip movie. Its protagonist is Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a nervy, geeky formerly borderline agoraphobe who's adapted to life in the newly zombie-infested USA by making a detailed series of survival rules - they flash up onscreen whenever he mentions them in a style that's since been much copied.

Columbus is trying to get to his family in Columbus, Ohio when he runs into Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a bona-fide zombie asskicker with a craving for Twinkies and a highly innovative approach to violence. It's Tallahassee who insists on only knowing people by their hometowns, in order not to get attached. They decide to team up, at least for a while, but their plans are derailed by sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), who succeed in disarming them in every sense of the word. The sisters are trying to get to Pacific Playland, a reportedly zombie-free theme park on the edge of LA. Eventually, they invite Columbus and Tallahassee to join them, but there's a lot of miles to cover and the undead don't need to sleep...

The good

First things first: this is a beautiful film, or at least a visually distinctive one. It's shot in vaguely sepia tones, lending it a vaguely dreamlike quality that sits well with the subject matter at hand. Editing is on the leisurely side even during the action sequences - the camera tends towards the unflinching, only cutting away at the absolute last minute. Frankly, it's fairly classy, at least as far as zombie horror goes.

There's a good cast, too, with Eisenberg tightly-wound as always and Harrelson playing one of his usual likeable assholes. Nobody's stretching themselves overly, leading to relaxed, naturalistic performances; in fact, this is possibly the most laid-back zombie movie I've ever seen, with a bonus Bill Murray cameo for extra indie cred. 

So, plenty here for both genre fans and casual viewers to enjoy.

The bad

Unfortunately, this is another one of these movies that left me feeling in need of a bath; it did first time round, and a second viewing didn't do anything to change my opinion. I'd hoped for something with a lighter touch, I suppose - not subtlety, not exactly, but something where the laughs were derived exclusively from the violence.  

Zombieland isn't a particularly scary movie, but that's part of the problem; there's never any real sense of horror. Instead, our protagonists seem to actively revel in creatively destroying as many humanoid enemies as they possibly can - Tallahassee is the chief offender, but none of the others seem to be frightened by their situation as much as positively exhilarated. It taps into the whole survivalist mentality, I think - half raging paranoia but half barely-suppressed bloodlust; it's the desire to be able to maim and kill with impunity, and it makes me slightly queasy. This is highlighted midway through the second act, when the group stop off at a deserted shop selling Native American merchandise and Tallahassee suggests they blow off steam and have some fun - fun, in this case, apparently consists of destroying as much of the stock as they possibly can. Leaving aside the racial ramifications, I found it rather depressing that after however long spent killing almost every other living creature they encountered, relaxation would come in the form of yet more mayhem.

Short version: people suck.

Oh, and after creating two believably strong female characters in the first act, by the third, the film still has them as damsels in distress, requiring rescue just so the not-so-dashing Columbus can face his fears and be a hero after all. 

The verdict

Polished and engaging, Zombieland conceals a rotting core that's putrid in all the wrong ways. Once again, I'm left wondering why so many modern filmmakers seem to take such a dim view of humanity.