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Zombieland
For a film jam-packed with the walking dead, Zombieland sure is bursting with life.
If pushed, you would have to hail this clever, adrenalised splotch of pulp fiction as the first great zom-com since Shaun of the Dead.
In all honesty, Zombieland is not quite in the same league as Shaun of the Dead. But it is more than worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence.
That should be recommendation enough for anyone hip to the guilty pleasures only high-end horror-based hilarity can offer.
The title of Zombieland refers to the nickname bestowed upon the United States after Mad Cow disease did a U-turn and mowed (or is that mooed?) down the entire country.
In the wake of a zombified apocalypse, America is now teeming with flesh-eating, mouth-breathing drones.
Those few who have survived with a clean bill of health recognise no law. But they do stick to certain rules to ensure they stick around to see another day.
By way of introduction, our narrator and nominal hero, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), runs us through a few handy hints to cope with life in Zombieland.
Cardio, or physical fitness, is of paramount importance. Because as we all know, movie zombies these days are bloody fast.
Never, ever go to the toilet without making sure that facility is as secure as Fort Knox. Zombies always know when you’ve got to go.
And then there is the double-tap. Every dying zombie deserves a bonus bullet or thwack just to make sure they are finished.
After Columbus completes his succinct summary of survival skills, Zombieland morphs into a cracking good road movie.
Seasoned zombie slayer Tallahassee (an appropriately unhinged Woody Harrelson) is the first to join Columbus on an odyssey towards a possible safe haven on the west coast.
Later, this unlikely pair of buddies are joined by sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), who have their own tricks for staying one step ahead of the undead.
While Zombieland boasts enough graphic splatter to fully warrant its MA15+ rating, the comic sensibility holding the whole movie together is whip-smart throughout.
If you’re having doubts, just hang in there until the lead quartet hit what is left of Hollywood, where a stay at an abandoned mansion in Beverly Hills pays off with the most memorable unbilled celebrity cameo of 2009.
Credits junkies who keep tabs on who’s doing what behind the scenes should mark down the name of first-time director Ruben Fleischer as a serious talent for the near future.
You could not assemble a better vehicle from junkier spare parts than what Fleischer has achieved here.
Again, if you’re in two minds about how good this guy might be, take a closer look at Zombieland’s inspired finale, staged to perfection at an empty amusement park.
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