Zombie movies tend to be horror movies with some of the most compelling social commentary. Now “Zombieland” is both mocking and praising the zombie movie sub-genre as “Shaun of the Dead” had once before.
Each zombie movie tends to be about something that made people angry. “Night of the Living Dead” challenged racism. “Dawn of the Dead” challenged the American consumer complex. “Day of the Dead” went after the American military complex. “Land of the Dead” had corporate consumerism. “Diary of the Dead” focused on the over-saturation of media. That’s just to name a few. So what does “Zombieland” challenge? Everything, including its own genre’s conventions.
Director Ruben Fleischer and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick might have accidentally stumbled across something really special while trying to make a zombie movie spoof. In some ways, it’s too serious to be an effective comedy but it’s also too funny to be an effective horror movie. However, as a general movie it is very effective.
The story is compelling. There might be about five people left human as it seems a zombie virus, which seems to be based on Mad Cow Disease since the first person got it from a tainted cheeseburger, spread throughout the entire United States. Four of these five people are broken to some extent, whether it’s trust issues, fear of next to everything or anger issues with a death wish while questing for a Twinkie.
The dialogue is short and punchy. Even with the sheer lack of dialogue and character development, they still find a way to make you care about these people. This is partially because of excellent writing, but also because of the acting and directing. One of the most surprising performances is that of Abigail Breslin. She went from so cute you hate her in “Little Miss Sunshine” to being such a blunt pain that you actually like and respect her in this film.
One of the other things that you’ll notice is the fact that the soundtrack is incredible. Acts like Metallica, Van Halen, Velvet Underground, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson and others fill up the soundtrack. They’re also very well applied, usually being appropriate for the scene or just appropriate for that general conversation that is happening at that moment. It seems like the script was written to an I-Pod set on random.
It’s hard to try to find something wrong with a movie this incredible. It just does everything so well. However, it’s so rare that something of this quality that’s even irreverent to itself that a lot of people are jaded and have to find something wrong with it. Outside of a couple of mistakes, which actually accidentally end up working in a way where it’s not noticeable, I couldn’t really find anything wrong with the movie. It was shocking.
If you’re looking for a good, humorous, heavy-hearted movie for your Halloween season, “Zombieland” is one of your best bets.