MyRating: YYYY1/2Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Amber Heard, Bill Murray
MPAA: Rated R for horror violence/gore and language
US Gross: US$ 75.6 Million
Worldwide Gross: US$ 102.3 Million
I always love zombie movies. Imagining yourself being chased by a bunch of flesh-eating living-deads and you have to run for your life, it's a totally adrenalin-pumping fantasy. Of course, you hope in the end... you survive!
Columbus (Eisenberg) is a nerd who has a set of rules to survive in the world already inhabited by zombies. 'Avoid the toilets', 'always check your car backseat' and 'double tap your enemies' are just some of his golden rules, and those rules are working so far as long as he is alone. When he meets with Tallahassee (Harrelson), a fearless and headstrong zombie killer - a man who lives with no rules and who is willing to go into every hell holes just to get his last Twinkie on earth, the world of Columbus is surely to change. And further in their adventure when they meet with the two cunning sisters, Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Breslin), who live their lives as impostors, Tallahassee has finally met his match. They learn it the hard way to know about each other. Only after they realize that they have to rely on and help each other, that they can finally make a force together to rock the world of the zombies.
This is a fun and clever zombie flick that gives rooms for its main characters to develop, which in the end makes us falling in love with them and care enough to see if they survive. We just don't want them to get bitten. On the other hand, all the formulas that make a good zombie film is there, the chase, the run, the hide, the bite, the kill, the gore.
All the actors are doing a pretty good job. Harrelson, with all his cockiness, is great in breathing and living the character of Tallahassee. Eisenberg is just perfect for his clumsy character. And the two female leads are refreshing the screen, Stone with her tricky and wild character, and the lovely child star Breslin as the sharp-tongue little sister who has to grow up fast in such a scary world, but still maintains a child at heart. She is so excited to visit the amusement park that she and her sister believe is zombie-free. The chemistries between the characters are also working well, between Harrelson & Eisenberg as a totally two opposite characters, Eisenberg & Stone with their awkward love relationship, and Harrelson & Breslin with their arguments and their own sweet moments that surely will spark a smile in your lips. The surprise appearance by Bill Murray in the middle of the film also leaves us with some memorable good laughs. As well as the appearance of the beautiful Amber Heard in the beginning of the movie as the girl next door, still leaves us with chills.
The final scene in the amusement park is the most fun and exciting part. It's a brilliant and mind-blowing thrill of ride. It's like buying a ticket to Disneyland for two, one to enjoy the whole rides and another one is for you to get chased by zombies along those rides... and then you kill 'em all.
Definitely love to see a sequel. (MJ)
