Ah Josh ah, it is 2010. Is it Twenty Ten or Two Thousand Ten?

As per the title above, someone asked me once why I refer to myself in third person. I replied, “well, sometimes Josh Lim does that”. But that’s besides the point.

Ahem. One thing that you might not know about me…is that I am a big zombie movie fan.
Here are some that I’ve seen/played (and this is just the ones I can remember off the top of my head)

Zombie Movies: 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Dawn Of The Dead (2005), Day Of the Dead (2008), Slither, The Signal, G.P 506 (Korean zombie movie), I Am Legend (which I did not really enjoy), Resident Evil 1, 2 & 3 & Sunshine (oops this is a spoiler if you haven’t watched the movie).

Zombie Movies with Shaky Camera Action (ala Cloverfield): REC (Spanish zombie movie), Quarantine (Hollywood remake of REC), Diary Of The Dead (this is one of the creepiest zombie movies I’ve seen).

Zombie Comedies: Black Sheep, Doghouse, Shaun Of The Dead and now…Zombieland!

Zombie Video Games: Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles, and of course, Left 4 Dead.

FYI: The zombie comedy is a subgenre of a subgenre. Horror > Zombie Movies > Zombie Comedies. You can also call it…a Zomedy!

Here’s a video of the Advertlets screening for Zombieland at Cineleisure Damansara, featuring a few Advertlets bloggers including myself:

I was very happy when Advertlets was given a chance to do a screening for Zombieland recently. Particularly I enjoy zombie movies because of one simple thing. whenever things get bad or I have a down point in life, I think about zombies…and imagine…it could be worse!

Zombieland movie poster

It’s also said that zombies are a reflection of society’s real world fears: overpopulation and fear of crowds.

I was particularly excited about seeing Zombieland due to the high Rottentomatoes.com score (a stunning 89%!). To give you an indicator, The Dark Knight scores about 94%, Star Trek (JJ Abrams remake) scores about 95%, District 9 scores 90% - which puts Zombieland in very good company. FYI, Rottentomatoes.com is a site that aggregates film critic commentary and ratings about movies.

I find myself agreeing with it about 70% of the time…most of the films I enjoy have high scores, though some (less than 10) that I thought were awesome had low scores. Either way it’s a good ‘filter’ for me to decide whether to watch a particular movie.

First off, if you’re a zombie movie aficionado…does it follow the “Zombie Rules” which were established by “The Father Of Zombie Movies, George Romero”? Yes it does! From (here)

1. Undead (meaning the zombie was at one point dead) (Check!)

2. Hunger for human flesh (Check!)

3. Impervious to non-lethal harm (Check!)

4. Killed only by destroying the brain (Even after severing the spinal column, Romero zombies’ heads still live. This rule has been broken by the “Return of the Living Dead” movies, which have terrible zombie ‘rules’ but are fun to watch.) (Check!)

5. Minimal mental processes (This rule seems to be the most malleable within the genre. The classic Romero-style zombies seem to be able to process only the information necessary for following and consuming live flesh, driven mostly on instinct alone, and are incapable of speech or complex thoughts. Outside of the Romero movies, it is not unusual to see this idea bent or broken for the sake of creating a more interesting monster. Still, ’smart’ zombies are very rare.) (Check!)

Rules are important. Because if you don’t somehow attempt to stick to the rules, you end up with films like Twilight, where sunlight makes vampires *sparkle* instead of die. Sigh. Makes them less creatures of the undead, and more My Little Pony than anything.

Btw I am with Team Edward, but I want to have Jacob’s body. lol.

Zombieland also introduces a set of rules (narrated by the main character) throughout the film and in the first 5 minutes of it for zombie survival.

Zombies in the back: "We want a ride too, rawr!"

I won’t spoil it all for you, but one of the rules is “Cardio” (Stay fit! The fatties will die first due to lack of speed), and also “Double Tap” (Make sure the zombie is dead for sure, don’t save your ammo as it could save your life!).

Story wise, the closest in terms of synopsis/story for Zombieland will most likely be Shaun of The Dead, one of the more recent zombie comedies. But Zombieland succeeds where Shaun of the Dead fails, namely:

- The romance in the story is not overplayed
- Genuine tension, zombies are actually menacing
- Comedy is sharp, doesn’t rely too much on uncomfortable moments
- Scale: With a budget of $24 million, Zombieland covers enough locations (from living room, to Hollywood, to a carnival, to grocery stores) to be very enjoyable. This could have made a great video game.
- Emotional scenes are used to good effect
- Zombieland is educational! Some of the tips are really useful should there ever be a zombie outbreak in Kuala Lumpur
- Awesome zombie killing action!

Which means -  if you enjoyed Shaun of the Dead, you’ll probably enjoy Zombieland as well. If you didn’t enjoy Shaun Of The Dead, you’ll probably enjoy Zombieland instead.

A scene from Zombieland which you will not see in Malaysian cinemas. ZOMBIE STRIPPERS!

Plot-wise, it’s relatively simple : Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg, who also starred in a movie called Adventureland [seriously!]) is a loner who has managed to survive the zombie apocalypse, who meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who meets other survivors : Wichita (Emma Stone from ‘Superbad’) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). They team up, and fight zombies! (Don’t let this put you off - it’s the character interactions and zombie action that make such a thin plot workable).

Emma Stone is a hot chick, and a good reason to watch Zombieland too!

Despite being starred by relative unknowns, you get the feeling that they are very well casted in their respective well-written roles, and all four of them seem “necessary” to the movie. There’s also a cameo role by a certain Hollywood actor (playing himself), that fits perfectly into the movie.
Pace-wise, the film is tightly paced at about an hour and 20 minutes (at most, I think 10 minutes could have been edited) and it is consistently funny - which is good, because some zombie movies fall into the trap of having lots of action then long, slow periods of emotional stuff.

Above all, the movie is fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously while remaining respectful of zombie movie “rules”. The ending sets itself up for a good sequel, AND YES! (I just Googled this) A sequel to Zombieland HAS BEEN CONFIRMED and it’s GOING TO BE in 3D!

ZOMBIELAND ZOMEDY ZUMMARY:

Pros:
- Good use of text overlays for the opening credits and throughout the movie (the text is a star in it’s own right).
- A first for zombie movies: offing a zombie with a banjo.
- Well casted actors that fit their roles
- Cameo appearance by surprise actor
- Stands up to repeat viewings (I watched it twice, and still laughed at the funny parts).

Cons:
- No chainsaw usage in the film (but there’s one in the movie poster!)
- No video game to accompany the movie (seriously, I would play a Zombieland game!)

If you like this, you’ll probably enjoy Zombieland: Playing Left 4 Dead, watching Zombie movies in general, or can stomach horror and enjoy American comedies. (Or if you enjoyed the Jason Statham film, Crank, or Jason Statham films in general).
Watch? Should you watch it? A definite yes. This is probably one of the best zombie movies for 2009. I’m looking forward to World War Z and Jonah Hex in 2010 though!