Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Zombieland (2009)

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Time Out rating

Average user rating

17 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Drop a loaded 12-gauge into the trembling mitts of a bubble-permed dweeb (Jesse Eisenberg), partner him with a bald, Bourbon-swilling Southern wildman (Woody Harrelson), then have them drive stolen muscle cars across the country formerly known as the United States of America, now a post-apocalyptic wasteland dubbed Zombieland.

It’s a foolproof set-up that allows an army of the undead to attack this tooled-up twosome from all flanks as they spit golden zingers at each other amid a slow-mo cascade of cartridge cases and blood. A mysterious ‘no-names’ policy means all the characters are identified by the places they’re headed to: Eisenberg is Columbus, Harrelson is Tallahassee, and along the way they are joined by a pair of juvenile femme fatale siblings called Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone).

It’s clear from the off that director Ruben Fleischer has his eyes trained on the comic jugular, and he attains an astronomical laugh count from Rhett Reese and Paul Wernickat’s fizzing, pop-savvy script. He also manages to work in a film-stealing A-list cameo which leads to arguably the funniest scene you’re likely to see in cinemas this year. Hardened genre fans (those who aren’t laughing) may feel short-changed by the film’s loose approach to horror convention – it’s more of a droll B-picture like ‘Tremors’ than, say, Romero’s ‘Dead’ films – but there is plenty of gizzard-chomping mayhem to see them through the brisk runtime. Plot-wise, it’s little more than a series of loosely connected sketches, but ‘Zombieland’ is Friday night multiplex fodder of the highest order.

Author: David Jenkins

Time Out London Issue 2042: 8 - 15 October, 2009

Email Tweet Share

User reviews of this film

DJ said...

Posted on Jun 16 2011 22:27 American teen cliche'd garbage, Very average, Seems zombies already inhabit the cybersphere.

Report as inappropriate
Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Jan 14 2010 02:07 Excellent Comedy Horror! I love 'The Rules'! Woody is class in this and for Zombie Fans with a sense of humour, get this, it's top notch! Good to see Bill Murray in it too!

Report as inappropriate
Tom said...

Posted on Nov 04 2009 10:32 This is an amazing film. best movie i have seen this year. It is a really funny film and there is a bit of gore. i also think that this film is over rated because its not scary at all.

Report as inappropriate
tina said...

Posted on Oct 29 2009 06:29 thought it was going to be not my sort of film...it was brilliant really funny glad i went to see it

Report as inappropriate
faloola said...

Posted on Oct 28 2009 17:59 forgot to rate

Report as inappropriate
faloola said...

Posted on Oct 28 2009 17:58 minterss!!
not as many zombies as i wouldve expected in a zombie film but still funny as!

Report as inappropriate
usman khawaja said...

Posted on Oct 19 2009 00:01 IT IS ENTERTAINING AT LEAST -all jesse -woody and bill murray have a subtle interaction which fits to make a funny zombie movie which also is about deeper issues like human solitude and community and harmonious familiar attachments as the script evolves steadily but it is subtle meaning, as it pretends to be simplistic and plain fun .

Report as inappropriate
_Matt_1977_ said...

Posted on Oct 18 2009 21:46 A cute love story with a dose of zombies and a dose of comedy.

Report as inappropriate
DV said...

Posted on Oct 18 2009 12:56 Loved it. Really entertaining. Great performances. Check it out.

Report as inappropriate
kyle nelson said...

Posted on Oct 17 2009 16:37 I have a bulge for this movie, lolz cruix derry #1

Report as inappropriate
Laura said...

Posted on Oct 13 2009 16:47 forgot to rate

Report as inappropriate
Laura said...

Posted on Oct 13 2009 16:46 I went to see this with my boyfriend, i expected it to be rubbish.. It was by far the FUNNIEST movie i have seen this year. I couldnt stop laughing all the way through!!!

Report as inappropriate
Paul said...

Posted on Oct 12 2009 08:10 Take Adventureland, throw in some zombies and you have a new film. This is another comedy about being a young uncertain man, Jesse Eisenberg, playing the same character in a different theme parks.
A harmless good fun night out for you, popcorrn and your significant other with some gentle laughs Expect a gang of lads with some female hangers-on to be there too to heckle and make lots of noise 'cos this is for them really.
Perhaps we will see Jesse in VampireLand, SuperHeroLand and AlienLand until the audiences or Jesse gets bored.

Report as inappropriate
irishgoatboy said...

Posted on Oct 11 2009 14:09 After a blistering credits sequence and well-paced first hour Zombieland takes out it's teeth and having laid out its 'offbeat' stall takes to sucking on the collective funny bone. Even so it coasts to an L.A bound standstill to play out the bulk of it's enjoyable but heartless second half. An admittedly funny midpoint cameo appearance proves to be both its comedy zenith and its major narrative roadblock. With it out goes any threat or tension and in comes the young leads 'will they/won't they' awkward first kiss anxieties. Now maybe that's the point, from the get go Fleischer’s flick is certainly out for the quick kill, at it's best when doling out droll one-liners or bouts of Zombie head cracking. As Harrelson's show stealing gunsmith hick brawler would have it Zombieland works best when it 'Nuts Up!’ However with uneven 'Scrubs' style skits and hammered to death interactive onscreen credits this likable band of Zombie bait’s story begins to stagnate. The loss of any real tangible plight upends the film's initial laugh inducing gory tensions. The decision to max out on laidback buddy-buddy charms and belly laughs and pull back on the Undead Hordes in the mid-section makes for a so-so finale that’s bloodless and by the numbers. Unlike genre splicing forerunners 'Return of the Living Dead' and the now classic 'Shaun of the Dead' it can't balance its bite with its good taste. Still a lot of fun for the most part but Zombieland somehow kills off its early promise by ignoring the jugular and going for the laugh every time.

Report as inappropriate
god said...

Posted on Oct 09 2009 17:57 is it a comedy ?

Report as inappropriate