Zombieland

2009
Director: Rubin Fleischer
Cast: Jesse Eisenburg, Woody Harrelson and Emma Stone

Plot: Two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies.

Zombies and Whiny Ninnies
by C. True

After Shaun of the Dead it is was inevitable that others would try to cash in on the idea of horror and overt comedy, and thus was born Zombieland. Its the post zombie-apocalypse meaning few people are left and scattered zombies wait in the shadows for bright lights or loud noises to arouse their insatiable hunger. Like Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland treats the subject of zombies humorously but the majority of laughs come from the joy Woody Harrelson's character gets out of annihilating them. And there is some good zombie-asskicking, but Harrelson's performance was so gleeful it seemed a shame that we didn't get more of these rampages, or hear his rules and thoughts on zombies. There are also some jokes around Jesse Einsenburg's, Columbus character being wimpy and so impotent its a wonder he gets up in the morning and finds the will and courage to face a new day. Although he was funny in the beginning it was unbearable by the end. I've heard Jesse Eisenburg was good in The Squid and the Whale and somewhat of a serious actor but after seeing Zombieland and the painful Adventureland (is there a theme starting here?) I think its safe to say that comedy is not his genre. I blame Michael Cera, who may have cursed us all with a decade of geeky teenage boys striving to be the next awkward/funny guy, who ends up with the lady in the end because, gee, I guess he's sorta sweet? No, he isn't sweet, he is just non-threatening. He'll never leave you for another girl, or hit you or do anything that isn't completely predictable. That sounds like a potentially boring main character, right? But Cera somehow shows you he isn't liked because he's misunderstood, and to be fair his variety of dweeb was pretty unique when he debuted in AD, but Eisenburg's dork is just ceaselessly annoying and the repulsion other characters feel towards him seems well deserved. Towards the end of the movie I cringed whenever he opened his mouth and had it not been for Woody Harrelson interludes I doubt I would have made it to the end.