Zombieland

Equal parts amusement-park-as-movie and post-apocalyptic buddy comedy, Zombieland is pretty much the definition of fun on film. It's almost to 28 Days Later what Shaun of the Dead was to Dawn of the Dead, but far more concerned with kicking ass and gut laughs than sly winks and nods to the genre. Plot comes secondary to character in Zombieland. In a world almost completely overrun with zombies after a viral outbreak, our protagonist (a well-cast Jesse Eisenberg) has stayed alive by following a set of rules he's continually adding to and revising. After introducing said rules, the title sequence hits with a super-slow motion, super-awesome montage of America falling to the zombies. Little more back-story is required, and what's necessary is dealt with in brief flashbacks. Soon, our neurotic and distinctly un-heroic lead runs into a snakeskin wearing badass (Woody Harrelson) who insists on using city names instead of real names to avoid getting too close. Thrust into the mix to provide gender balance and a direction for the story are Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin as con-artist sisters who begin a distrustful game of cat and mouse with their fellow survivors. The girls want to reach an amusement park they visited with their family before the zombpocalypse, Columbus (Eisenberg) wants to find out if his family survived and Tallahassee (Harrelson) just wants to taste the last fucking Twinkie on the planet before it goes bad. Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick struck an appropriately zany chord with the creation of Tallahassee and Columbus, though, unfortunately, their quirky touch is less developed with the female voices of Wichita and Little Rock. Oozing charm and ability to compensate, Stone and Breslin make the most of their characters. Sadly, there is no blooper reel, but the two production features included have their moments, especially clips of pre-make-up zombie auditions. Deleted scenes were justly chopped bits; "VFX Progress Shots" are interesting but under-explained; "Woke Up Dead" is an inexplicably attached and unfunny webisode starring Jon Heder. There is at least one Easter egg to find (hint: beer helmet) and Woody Harrelson's overt honesty makes his contribution to the feature commentary track and behind-the-scenes footage a delight. This team will definitely be back with more brain-chewing, heart-stealing, snack-hunting adventures, but this instalment will always contain the best zombie cameo of all time. Quit reading and go watch it already!