Zombieland - Review
Apr. 3rd, 2011 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatAlthough, the post below this one may work better.
Just finished watching Zombieland which is actually one of the better zombie flicks out there.
Hilarious in places.
It does admittedly suffer a wee little bit from survival movie syndrome - which is, if you aren't familiar with the trope, characters struggling to survive in post-apocalyptic wasteland...meander aimlessly about and after many obstacles, hold up shop in an abandoned house somewhere and have deep meaningful and somewhat cliche talks about nothing. In short, boring. And just before the audience starts to route for their demise - they do something incredibly stupid - like leave this safe haven and get attacked. All survival movies, zombie and otherwise, have this bit somewhere in the middle of the proceedings or towards the end, and the movie or tv show comes to an abrupt halt. The pacing suddenly slows down. And you realize these characters have absolutely nothing to say to each other. In short - it's a bit like watching real life and seriously? Who wants that?
To give Zombieland credit - it does tend to go against the trope a bit, in several ways, one it helps tremendously that the house they decide to set up shop in is not a deserted dinner somewhere or a hotel or a shack but Bill Murray's gaudy palace in Beverly Hills, complete with Bill Murray guesting as well Bill Murray. Two - when they leave safe haven - it actually makes sense, and the place they get into jeopardy is entertaining and somewhat innovative. We even get a little role-playing from Ghostbusters. Seriously folks, I always wondered about this in zombie flicks - if you are in a zombie wasteland and most people are dead or walking dead? Why not go find a really nice house with lots of entertainment items, get rid of all of the zombies in it, and hole up there for a while? Why find a shack that they can easily find you in and attack?
As in all horror/zombie movies, they do do stupid things in this movie, but they appear to be aware of them and make fun of them. Such as go to a deserted amusement park in the middle of the night and turn everything on. But it sort of works, because the characters are under the impression that there are no zombies there and it's a way to retreat to an earlier time of innocence and fun. Works characterwise - and provides insight into the characters.
There's a very clever bit regarding the rules to survival in zombieland:
Rule #1? Beware of Bathrooms. Or is that Fasten Seat Belts? I forget.
In some respects I like this movie better than Shaun of the Dead - in that the female roles are a bit better and more defined. The humor is dryer. But I admittedly don't remember Shaun of the Dead that well - so I may be wrong about that.
Is it gross? Yes and no. Less gross actually than both Shaun and Walking Dead. But more gross than vampire movies. They actually don't show most of the gory details. And the zombies in this flick are scarey - they don't meander, they sprint after you. Which brings me to rule number 3 - Cardio. It helps to be in good physical shape. I kept jumping out of my armchair and hollering. So yes, it has the nifty scare reflex with the laughs.
And, the characters are actually developed here. All four of them, male and female. They are introduced as stereotypes, but we see beyond the stereotypes. We also get humorous backstory.
A witty narrative pov that stays consistent throughout. And fairly witty dialogue.
The only drawback? The middle section - which I described above, and is made somewhat interesting by Bill Murray.
Tallhasse: Any regrets?
Bill Murray: Not really. Okay, maybe Garfield. (He did the voice of Garfield in the CGI film.)
Overall rating? A-
Just finished watching Zombieland which is actually one of the better zombie flicks out there.
Hilarious in places.
It does admittedly suffer a wee little bit from survival movie syndrome - which is, if you aren't familiar with the trope, characters struggling to survive in post-apocalyptic wasteland...meander aimlessly about and after many obstacles, hold up shop in an abandoned house somewhere and have deep meaningful and somewhat cliche talks about nothing. In short, boring. And just before the audience starts to route for their demise - they do something incredibly stupid - like leave this safe haven and get attacked. All survival movies, zombie and otherwise, have this bit somewhere in the middle of the proceedings or towards the end, and the movie or tv show comes to an abrupt halt. The pacing suddenly slows down. And you realize these characters have absolutely nothing to say to each other. In short - it's a bit like watching real life and seriously? Who wants that?
To give Zombieland credit - it does tend to go against the trope a bit, in several ways, one it helps tremendously that the house they decide to set up shop in is not a deserted dinner somewhere or a hotel or a shack but Bill Murray's gaudy palace in Beverly Hills, complete with Bill Murray guesting as well Bill Murray. Two - when they leave safe haven - it actually makes sense, and the place they get into jeopardy is entertaining and somewhat innovative. We even get a little role-playing from Ghostbusters. Seriously folks, I always wondered about this in zombie flicks - if you are in a zombie wasteland and most people are dead or walking dead? Why not go find a really nice house with lots of entertainment items, get rid of all of the zombies in it, and hole up there for a while? Why find a shack that they can easily find you in and attack?
As in all horror/zombie movies, they do do stupid things in this movie, but they appear to be aware of them and make fun of them. Such as go to a deserted amusement park in the middle of the night and turn everything on. But it sort of works, because the characters are under the impression that there are no zombies there and it's a way to retreat to an earlier time of innocence and fun. Works characterwise - and provides insight into the characters.
There's a very clever bit regarding the rules to survival in zombieland:
Rule #1? Beware of Bathrooms. Or is that Fasten Seat Belts? I forget.
In some respects I like this movie better than Shaun of the Dead - in that the female roles are a bit better and more defined. The humor is dryer. But I admittedly don't remember Shaun of the Dead that well - so I may be wrong about that.
Is it gross? Yes and no. Less gross actually than both Shaun and Walking Dead. But more gross than vampire movies. They actually don't show most of the gory details. And the zombies in this flick are scarey - they don't meander, they sprint after you. Which brings me to rule number 3 - Cardio. It helps to be in good physical shape. I kept jumping out of my armchair and hollering. So yes, it has the nifty scare reflex with the laughs.
And, the characters are actually developed here. All four of them, male and female. They are introduced as stereotypes, but we see beyond the stereotypes. We also get humorous backstory.
A witty narrative pov that stays consistent throughout. And fairly witty dialogue.
The only drawback? The middle section - which I described above, and is made somewhat interesting by Bill Murray.
Tallhasse: Any regrets?
Bill Murray: Not really. Okay, maybe Garfield. (He did the voice of Garfield in the CGI film.)
Overall rating? A-