It's purposefully campy, plays with stereotypes creatively, and it's merely 88 minutes of good fun.Deutch revealed that Harrelson put her through the ringer while filming a scene that showed her character throwing up. It never overextends its stay because Zombieland is neither a romance nor a drama. However, it never feels forced or fabricated. Yes, it still involves a romance of sorts, and some backstories might not be funny or joyful.
Ruben Fleischer knew precisely what he wanted the movie to be, and he never tried to make it something more.
Excellent use of practical effects and real sets, plus a perfect soundtrack. The short runtime allows for a fast-paced story, packed with fun moments, and a lot of bloody zombie killings.
It's visually palpable that they had tons of fun doing this film, and that elevates every single conversation or action scene. The cast's chemistry is undeniably astonishing. Nevertheless, even though the girls could have received more character development, their relationship gives them a compelling reason for us to care about. Wichita might just look like the cliche hot girl who falls for the good guy, but she would do anything to protect her sister, and her love for Little Rock does give her some gravitas. Stone and Breslin share great moments together, as well as Harrelson and Eisenberg, but the former duo has less exciting sequences. From his list of rules to his weird behavior, everything feels natural since the character's background justifies his awkward self. Contrary to this tendency, Columbus is a character that logically and hilariously fits this model, hence Eisenberg is the movie's primary source of comedy. He always offers the same type of character: a quirky, twitch-full, idiosyncratic personality, which most of the times doesn't work. Eisenberg is not exactly the type of actor I like since he can only do so much with his acting abilities. Harrelson portraying Tallahassee, the guy who's not scared of anything and likes to "enjoy the little things", is one of his career's coolest roles. However, everyone delivers fantastic performances, which carry the simplistic yet entertaining story to such a success that it became a zombie classic. Even with only 13-years-old, she already had an Oscar nomination in a supporting role ( Little Miss Sunshine). Emma Stone and Jesse Eisenberg didn't star in anything truly remarkable yet, so much that Abigail Breslin was more recognizable than them. In 2009, only Woody Harrelson was already a renowned adult actor.
Well, first of all, the outstanding cast is halfway through success. Nowadays, people are used to seeing the living dead on the screen all the time, so why does a 2009's film like this still work? Their use quickly became something cliche, and neither funny or scary.
In a time where zombie films and TV shows were starting to come up ( The Walking Dead premiered one year later), this post-apocalyptic zombie comedy flick still remains as one of the best zombie movies of the century. I haven't seen Zombieland in quite a few years, but with its sequel being released this week, now it's the perfect moment to go back to the hilarious world of zombies.