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Created Feb 20, 2010 08:41AM PST • Edited Feb 20, 2010 08:41AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   Such a good movie. Zombie movies have been done and done again. They range from comedies to gore-fests to character studies. This is kinda all three. Its funny as all get out and takes a fresh approach to zombies. Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus has survived the zombie holocaust due to a simple set of rules. Rules like “Cardio”, “Limber Up” and the “Double Tap.” Instead of looking at why this happened or how they’re going to survive, this looks at what keeps people moving. They have survived, they know how to. But when everyone is a zombie and your family is dead (Columbus says “In Zombieland, we’re all orphans”) – how do you find purpose?

   That’s the underlying story anyway, but mostly this is a comedy. Have fun, kill zombies and watch the poor socially awkward kid try to score with the hottie. Good, fun, solid entertainment and quite possibly Bill Murray’s finest hour. You will laugh your ass off as long as you let yourself have fun with it.

4. Acting

   Great 4.0

   Jesse Eisenberg is so fun to watch. He’s awkward, meek and relateable, but also believable as the kid coming into his own. Good comedy timing and delivery as well. I could see him getting a bit overplayed like Michael Cera (being the same guy every time) but for now this is a great role for him.

   Woody Harrelson is great in comedy roles. He’s so damn funny and goofy and just a joy to watch. As Tallahassee he is a little crazy, but not nearly as crazy as he is trying to be. He lost a son and he lives alone – he doesn’t need anyone. Big tough guy with lots of guns and a love for twinkies. Good fun all around.

   Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin are sisters on the run, trying to get to Disneyla. . . . I mean Pacific Funland. They are grifters, running scams on dumb men to survive and they are pretty damn good at it. You’ve got the cute bait and then the solid acting to pull it off. They played their parts to a tee.

   Bill Murray was a surprise for me and I gotta say that it made my year to see that. He was freakin hilarious and I can’t get enough of his scenes. That man has a direct line to my funnybone.

   Best of all, I think that they work really well together. Eisenberg and Harrelson especially have a great chemistry and work really well off each other. Its a good case of opposites defining each other. The tougher Harrelson is, the more meek Eisenberg looks.

5. Male Stars Really Great 4.5

6. Female Stars Great 4.0

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

8. Male Costars Perfect 5.0

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    The film looked good. I really liked the look of the characters and the whole use of Columbus’ list. Someone will kill a zombie, then go up and shoot it in the head just to make sure its gone and “Double Tap” will show up on screen. A funny little use of his list that hits home why he was able to survive despite being such a weakling.

    Other than that it was solidly done. The zombies looked good and contributed to the comedy of the movie. Everything looked really well together I think. The high def slow-mo scenes in the opening credits were especially fun to watch.

11. Direction Very Good 3.5

12. Play Perfect 5.0

13. Music Good 3.0

14. Visuals Very Good 3.5
15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.2

    Some good gore, but not very graphically done. More comedically done. Does it go overboard? Oh yeah. But the whole movie is overboard. Exaggerated and fun. Only one real nude shot in the opening credits with a running zombie stripper (pasties flying and all), but outside of that it was tame. Lots of language and some dirty jokes. Not as vulgar as some, but a good amount.

17. Sex Titillating 2.0

18. Violence Savage 4.0

19. Rudeness Profane 3.5

21. Reality

    Supernatural 3.8

    People rising from the dead and eating each other. They made great lengths to make it believable in how they survive (the list, the scams, the guns and frequent raidings of abandoned stores) so I guess the best way to see it is reality in an unreal situation.

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.5

23. Biological Fantasy 5.0

24. Physical Fantasy 5.0