"Rule 33 - you HAVE to watch this film!"
Imagine an American version of Shaun of the Dead. Admit it - you're worried. You're worried that they'll do what they always do to British comedies - they'll take out all of the amusement and generally screw things up. In all honesty, that's what I was expecting from Zombieland - billed as an ‘action comedy', I feared the worst. That fear lasted all of 30 seconds, at which point I found myself laughing harder than I have in a VERY long time in a cinema. The Americans, god bless them, have actually managed to make a blinder.
The plot is based on your stereotypical post zombie apocalypse affair - deadly virus appears, humans get infected, infection spreads, survivors are few and spread far and wide. Somehow, the utterly gutless Columbus (played simply magnificently by Jesse Eisenberg) has managed to stay alive - mostly thanks to his many rules, and it is he who we follow in the film, from his first zombie kill, through to his blossoming friendship with zombie killer extraordinaire Tallahassee (a star turn by Woody Harrelson), and culminating with him finally reaching first base with the beautiful femme fatale Wichita (Emma Stone).
The genius of this film lies in the fact that the basics are done supremely well. The story manages to breath life into the often repetitive zombie genre, the cast and acting are quite frankly superb, and the humour absolutely top notch - this really is one of those films that makes the whole cinema laugh out loud throughout, not by being gross or over the top, but simply by being bloody funny (watch out for a genius A list cameo by the way).
Zombieland is a very intelligent, witty and at times touching film. It seems to tap completely into the base human emotions - fear, love, humour, and it delivers completely on all fronts. Quite simply one of the best films I've seen all year.
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