I'm always skeptical with zombie flicks. I mean let's get serious. Does it really get any better than Romero's vintage Night of the Living Dead (1968)? No. It really doesn't. That's not to say that some zombie flicks are not noteworthy IE: 28 Days Later. The action/horror spoof Zombieland surely falls safe enough into that league.
Zombieland starts off in modern-day quick but cool montage bang-explain mode with a list of rules on how to survive zombie attacks in a world occupied by only a few remaining humans. It's fun enough and laughs certainly follow, as Woody Harrelson struts his stuff in a tailor-made role. But as the movie goes on we slowly begin to realize that we are the victim of a "one joke" flick.
This realization occurs exactly at the moment when Bill Murray enters the screen in a half-hearted cameo. Which breaks Action Movie Rule #1: Never Give The Audience Time To Think. What is no doubt a comedic cameo to some, is in a sense distracting and derails the momentum of the journey to other more serious observers. Why doesn't it work? Because we as audience members were not ready to let go of the foursomes journey cross-country for an overlong tongue-in-cheek joke. Believe me--I love Ghostbusters and Murray just as much as the next person. This "cameo" no doubt came about because of the success of Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder, which somehow managed to work, it does not here.
The films strongest subplot is certainly that of the two ladies Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who are sister survivoring con-artists. However, it owes more than a bit to the likes of Paper Moon and the great but little seen movie Heartbreakers. It is a shame that the men (Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg) couldn't have been saved by the bad ass women rather than the typical other way around. The film's final act ends at an amusement park in an attempt to be as symbolic as Romero's Dawn of the Dead mall. Not so much. After the elongated cameo, Zombieland somehow lost it's most curious and effective asset- the suspense. The directing was noticeably loose at the end, as the film did not know what to do with itself any longer. Zombieland certainly failed when it abandoned its "spoofyness" for the been-there-done-that drama.
However, Harrelson as Tallahassee helped make up for any mistakes on a grand scale. And, while not a groundbreaker, on that same grand scale Zombieland succeeds in laughs and general audience fun. Which is more than you can ask for in a zombie genre that is slowly wearing out its welcome and begs the honest question... what more is there left to say?
GRADE: B
Interestingly enough, the original actor for the cameo was suddenly not available. Folks were called, but nobody was available. The director was originally going to scrap the scene but Woody got involved and called some of his friends - Bill was available, and they shot his scene a couple of days later. It was really written for someone else, but apparently was adapted for Bill when he said 'yes'.
ReplyDeleteThis comes from the director himself, who was recently interviewed on, "Reel Time" on Cinemagic, XM Radio channel 76.
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