This Time the Snobs Visit Zombieland

Brandon: I've been so excited for this movie to come out on DVD! Most of the reviews that I had seen for this film described it as the best zombie movie to come out in years. The trailer looks gruesome and hilarious, and I'd heard that it's got a super-awesome secret cameo near the end that totally kicks ass. This had the potential to be a truly epic flick!

Jenni: I was equally excited. Zombieland follows the adventures of a small group of survivors in a zombie-infested world. And that's it in a nutshell. Sure, there's some subplots about finding love and companionship in unlikely places, but it's really just about different ways to kill a zombie.

Brandon: Yup, and like all good zombie-shooting video games this movie's full of lots of guns and baseball bats and falling pianos and such to kill the never-ending throngs of the undead. If you're looking for a film full of crazy ways to kill brain-eating monsters, this movie's going to be right up your alley. But, if you're looking for anything more than that in this movie, you're going to be disappointed.

Jenni: Agreed. Was it funny? Sure it was, but all of the really funny parts were shown in the trailer. Worse than that, even the best zombie kills were shown in the commercials on TV. Was there human drama (love, laughter, despair)? To a degree, yes, but really any scene that didn't involve zombies felt like filler material. The main characters were very good at killing zombies, but they were terribly stupid when it came to anything else in their lives. I'm not even sure how any of them had survived as long as they had. The movie basically focused on them making really bad decisions and then having to hurriedly find a way out of the ensuing carnage.

Brandon: Yeah, I'm with you. I spent the whole movie shaking my head and thinking of how dumb the characters all were. At least Woody Harrelson's character was charismatic when he was on-screen - he was fun to watch kill zombies. But was Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine - really in that movie? She had what, maybe two lines through the whole thing? And Emma Stone and Jesse Eisenberg? My goodness, but those two actors are so completely dull, and there was absolutely no chemistry between them. I hate to belabor my distaste for Jesse Eisenberg (see our Adventureland review below), but how does he always end up with the girl in his films? He plays such boring and monotonous characters in every movie that I've seen him in. I suppose that in a zombie-filled wasteland, girls just don't have much else to choose from.

Jenni: You be nice to Jesse! Sure, he's not the brightest bulb in the box, but he's cute and sweet. Your jealousy won't keep me from loving him! I'm just sad that his movie wasn't as good as it had been hyped-up to be. Even the surprise cameo near the end couldn't save the film. If anything, that whole sequence just left me confused and thinking again of how stupid the non-zombies in Zombieland really were.

Brandon: Yes, this was such a disappointment. It just had so much potential! Unfortunately I won't be recommending this one to any of my friends. Rather, if you want a great zombie flick, go out and find a copy of 2002's 28 Days Later (not the terrible sequel). That was awesome zombie action! So until next time, the snobs are out. Peace!

You can watch the Zombieland trailer here.