Zombieland

Not every "zombie" movie is alike. Sometimes the zombies are evil little madmen, as they were in Children of the Corn. Sometimes the zombies are ghoulish, wandering things that seem to meander in the direction of the sane. And sometimes, zombies are vampires, bloodthirsty creatures who have a hearty appetite for human flesh! In Zombieland, the evil folks drip blood and gore from open mouths!

The creativity of your average zombie film lies not, however, in the character of the undead, but rather in the character of the heroes fighting them. In Zombieland, we've got four very likable, and somewhat offbeat, battlers for truth, justice, and the American way.

Woody Harrelson plays the lead, as a gun-totin', zombie-killin', fearless warrior whose only real weakness lies in his love for...Twinkies! Just recall Woody playing the stone-cold killer in Natural Born Killers, and you can imagine how well he plays the shooter.

His protege, a young nerd, has evolved a neat little set of rules to help him stay alive. Jesse Eisenberg does the geek role well, and his humor, wry at best, keeps the spirit of the film light.

Jesse's love interest, Wichita, played by Emma Stone, is a pretty teen whose sweet smile hides a wily, deceptive manipulator. Emma was impressive in House Bunny, but she shines in her role as the self-centered survivor.

The fourth of the heroes is young Abigail Breslin, whom we've seen grow up in films. Now around eleven, she is very believable as little sis who is learning the ropes from her very able sib. She can only shake her head at the romance between big sis and the young man.

Now add some incredible one-liners, and you've got the makings of solid zombie fare! For example, we get a look into the young man's past, particularly his first girl friend. When she turns out to be a ghoul with salivating chops, the young man says, "The first girl I let into my life and she tries to eat me!"

Grade of B. Good scenes, some good lines. Light on character development. Solid fun, for those who can enjoy a film with little redeeming value!