Matt Shea
RubySoho
Morgan Bell
Cibbuano
David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
Zombieland
November 27th 2009 01:59
Zombies – those jaundiced, shuffling harbingers of irony and allegory – are back with some kind of vengeance in Zombieland, America’s response to the inspired 2004 British comedy, Shaun of the Dead.
But where Shaun of the Dead was fleet-footed filmmaking paying homage to the slow-moving menace of the Romero zombies, Zombieland defies its own sprinting version of the undead to be a largely paceless enterprise, full of good spirit but running on empty when it comes to both laughs and horror.
In the film’s favour, it makes no apologies for what it is. The story following a hardy band of survivors as they make their way cross-country to the supposed safety of a Californian theme park (not Wally World) is light on allegory and theme, even if it does possess a nice little subtext regarding the importance of family.
With that in mind, Zombieland concentrates less on the actual dynamics of a zombie-infested society and more on the characters, before failing to imbue them with any real depth whatsoever. The humour thus feels brittle and forced on most occasions, although there are so many jokes thrown around that some of them can’t help but stick.
The main character, Columbus’s (Jesse Eisenberg) list of rules – clearly inspired by the Max Brooks book, The Zombie Survival Guide – is a perfect case in point: this should be the film’s comedic bread and butter, a perfect opportunity to ring a solid cadre of jokes from the material. But the geeky guidelines tend to fall flat, rolled out with such self-satisfied abandon you wish you found them nearly as funny as the filmmakers obviously do.
And Eisenberg himself turns out to be another of Zombieland’s main stumbling points. Not that it’s a problem of performance, more one of casting. Eisenberg’s Columbus is a lonely nerd caught in extraordinary circumstances, and his loquacious voiceover fills in the audience on how his friendless existence has benefited his fight for life.
The problem is Eisenberg isn’t really a convincing nerd, particularly if you’ve seen something like The Squid and the Whale, where he chews through the screen with a sharp, arresting intelligence. Director Ruben Fleischer and his casting department got it wrong, a little like the class bullies realising they’ve picked the wrong guy for being a soft touch.
The rest of the players are consigned to fairly rudimentary characters, although Woody Harrelson makes for a muscular presence as a seasoned (in terms of months) zombie killer, while Emma Stone conjures the male members of the audience into a heated discomfort with her smoky looks and cold-as-ice demeanour.
Throughout, Fleischer’s direction is adequate without ever being exceptional. His understanding of comic timing seems slightly wonky, many an inspired joke falling flat through stumbled delivery. That’s to take nothing away from the rather brilliant opening credit sequence, however, where slow motion, gore-encrusted zombies are powered along by Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Tolls – great moment.
Ultimately, Zombieland is a serviceable, barely adequate film, neither frightening enough nor funny enough. I never thought my wits would allow me to fall asleep during a zombie film, but Fleisher's managed to prove me wrong.
I say: An inoffensive, mildy funny but ultimately lackadaisical film featuring one of the most uninspired cameos in recent history.
See it for: The opening credits. And then leave.
*This image is from the New York Times
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Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
I could also go all feminist film theory on you and launch into how it allows sexism to triumph...but i won't (mainly cause it will involve spoliers).
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Yep Ruby, I know exactly what you mean - it's a bit off, isn't it? And not exactly subtle, either.
It opens next week, Bryn, so no hat of shame required. I went to a preview and posted this today because I'll be peddling some serious Mexican Film Festival action next week - hell yeah!
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I somehow missed this one on the bigscreen over here but it sits firmly in my Netflix list.
I must say your review intrigues me even more because it seems like 50% of reviews I have read have loved the film and then the other half rank it as average...haven't read many truly scathing critiques though so i figure it warrants at least one viewing....and I am a massive Woody Harrelson fan so that will probably add to the pleasure of my own viewing.
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by ZombiFreak
One thing I did learn is Double Tap or end up as a human happy meal!
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Mountain Fog
I say, if one of us wins lotto, we make our own zombie movie!
Well, maybe we first go into developing a script...right down to the detailed action description and sets/costumes etc, (story boarding) and then film just ten minutes on a 35mm, (I know a dude), and put it out there on the market for highest bidder!
Okay, maybe not even 35mm, as that entails a whole lot of cash and people, but, certainly a state of the art cam....hmm..maybe the "red one"....but I've never been involved with that, but, it would be my choice as it feeds previously made CGIs immediately into frame as you shoot action, so you can look at it and see the finished product right there on set, and immediately reshoot if the live action is crap. Saves a fortune.
BUT, do I remember Bryn saying, some time back, that he deplores the advent of CGI to the loss of the old mechanical realism, and I agree, but there is a mix of the two that can make real beauty....blood, gore and background mayhem on a monumental scale.
Basically, I have a terribly black sense of humour, and I have written stage shows, even an opera (libretto and directed it, successful too).. and so I really do think we; Matt, Bryn, JD, Dave and myself could give it a serious go... even just the storyline, a one page synopsis and that could jerk some interest...
Here is my opening gambit..oops
no, I'll send it to you via the email thangy, I'll write down a basic intro and outline, as a way of getting the cogs turning.
But, before I do that, tell me what you guys think?
Are you all interested?
At the very least, it could be a fun exercise, in co-operative writing and ideas pooling, and you never know, it just might work!
waddya think?
fog
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Comment by Mountain Fog
I am glad you are interested, I sent you an email with some details about how we go about it.
cheers...
oh, and Matt,
no worries, I see it as a laid back no pressure thang, where we all can contribute when we can. We will need to set up a separate members only site, on yahoo or whatever, so we can all just drop ideas there rather than the email thing. I'll gibe you more deatl once I get answers back from Bryn and Dave. JD is in, as you can see above.
cheers
fog
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I like your enthusiasm, however like Matt and JD I'm rather busy with my own projects at the moment, not to mention my work (and blogs) and I can't realistically see being able to make time for another screenwriting project and to focus on it properly. I'm already behind with several other projects as it is! I do appreciate you wanting to get me involved though! Perhaps I can still throw the odd idea into the brew, just to stir things up
Comment by Anonymous