*Please excuse the annoying intro--its the only version I could get embedded
When I first started seeing trailers for Zombieland over the summer, I wasn't that thrilled. I was interested, but that was the extent of it. I like Jesse Eisenberg and I thought it was funny that he did two films back to back with "land" in the title. (see: Adventureland) What's he going to do next, "Geekland?" I also like Emma Stone a lot. She was rated my #1 favorite actress of 2008, despite the fact that she did two horrible movies, The House Bunny and The Rocker. Yes, I saw both of them, and only because she was in them. I take a lot of flack for liking her too, because according to my friends, she looks like the female version of Donkey Lips from Salute Your Shorts.
*Granted, these are not the two best pictures of them, I can still kind of see the resemblance.
The trailer for Zombieland confused me: Is it a zombie movie, or a comedy about about Zombies? Is it seriously a rip-off of Shaun of the Dead? Is this a genre now, the zom-com? And hasn't this zombie craze gone far enough? They're really just beatin' a dead corpse by now.
Zombieland was released on one of the biggest nights for film in recent memory, October 2. At least 4 major titles came out that same Friday: Zombieland, Whip It, The Invention of Lying, and Capitalism: A Love Story. I'm a huge Michael Moore fan, so I went to see the midnight showing for Capitalism at the AMC River East by Navy Pier. There were some people dressed up as Zombies, but mostly everyone was there to see Paranormal Activity. I ended up switching my tickets and joining the masses. 4 new films and I went to see some indie flick I'd never heard of. One of the best decisions I've made in a long time. (You can read my review of Paranormal Activity in an earlier post)
On my list of must-see movies, Zombieland fell behind Capitalism and Whip It, because I'd just rather see something more original. But sure enough, the next Saturday at work everyone was raving about Zombieland. "You have to see it, its hilarious! There's an awesome cameo!" So the following Saturday I did just that, and here's what I thought:
I enjoyed it. It was a fun movie. The actors and the music were very entertaining. The story was really cool, and I especially liked that the characters are named after their hometowns. Overall though, it was much closer to a romantic comedy than any zombie movie I've seen. There just weren't that many zombies. There are some memorable, funny scenes with zombies, but they are far from the main focus of the film. They're more like a part of the setting; a prop in the background.
The film's really about this awkward college kid facing his fears (clowns and pretty girls) and becoming a man. And I've heard that the role was written for Michael Cera but he turned it down because he'd be co-starring with his best friend's superbad girlfriend, and that would just be wrong. Ok, I lied. I don't know if any of that is true, but I have heard Jesse Eisenberg referred to as the poor man's Michael Cera, or Michael Cera #2.
Maybe its just because I saw it alone, but it definitely did not live up to the hype for me. The same can be said for The Hangover--it was hyped as the funniest movie of the year. I did go with friends to that one, inebriated friends, and it still wasn't that funny. The funniest movie I've seen this year will be my next review...
All over the place--in a good (rich) way.
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