Pack Your Bags and Visit ‘Zombieland’ Because It’s Well Worth the Trip

“Zombieland” is a hilarious, action-packed ride that is the very definition of a great time at the movies. Sure, it’s not one of the “important movies of our time,” like a certain recent movie that also stars Jessie Eisenberg probably is, but screw it, just go see this movie. You won’t regret it.

As far as the plot goes, it concerns a twenty-something guy named “Columbus” (Eisenberg), a wild cowboy/badass named “Tallahassee” (Woody Harrelson), and the dangerous, roguish sisters “Wichita” (Emma Stone) and “Little Rock” (Abigail Breslin).

The movie details their attempts to survive in a post-zombie apocalypse United States, dubbed Zombieland. As you can imagine, they kill plenty of zombies along the way, usually with a comic flair, but sometimes with a “badassitude” that you might not expect from a movie that’s advertised as more of a comedy than anything else.

Eisenberg does a great job here, even if he’s relegated the job of being the awkward, but relatable and funny underdog that the audience roots for. Harrelson is the source of most of the badass zombie killings, which are inherently and maybe even disturbingly funny. Emma Stone is the sort of Catwoman-esque love interest to Eisenberg, which is to say that she’s hot but ain’t no damsel in distress. I can’t honestly remember what Abigail Breslin did in this movie. This wasn’t really one of her standout roles, not that she did a bad job, but she wasn’t particularly notable either.

There is some sharp direction going on here. Director Ruben Fleischer maintains the dark comedy feel while maintaining a sense of fear in the audience for the main characters and even themselves; I know someone who’s still afraid of bathrooms after seeing this movie.

With that in mind, I suppose it might be good to warn people that this isn’t a PG-13, lighthearted affair: “Zombieland” is rated R, and knows it. It’s no “Saw” or anything, and all of the violence is hilarious rather than disturbing, but those of you who are sensitive to blood and zombie-killin’ might want to look elsewhere for your entertainment.

If I have any complaints at all with “Zombieland,” it would be that it is a little standard. Yes, the whole thing oozes style, but I rarely found myself too surprised at how the movie’s plot progressed. What’s far more important is how the whole thing was came together, and if you’re reading this far, you should know that it does so expertly. For the second time, go see this movie.