John Allman

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles at the video store or surfed the DVR pay-per-view options and seen a bunch of movies that you’ve never heard of, chances are John has watched them. Why? He loves movies. All kinds of movies. Good, bad, so-bad-they’re good, even the truly unwatchable ones. He mostly loves horror and science-fiction and drive-in exploitation movies that most upstanding model citizens wouldn’t dare watch. Then he writes up his thoughts so you can decide - watch, don’t watch or avoid at all costs. Sometimes he even gets to talk to the cool folks who make some of your favorite films.

 Blood, Violence and Babes
 John Allman

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Zombieland

Posted Feb 23, 2010 by John Allman

Updated Feb 23, 2010 at 07:10 AM

Zombieland
Genre: Horror/Zombie
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Run time: 88 minutes
Rating: R
Format: Blu-Ray

The Lowdown: It’s clever, highly stylized, fast-paced and gory as hell.

So why is it that on a second viewing, I’m not liking “Zombieland” as much as I did when I saw it in the theater?

The cast is exceptional, particularly Woody Harrelson in his best role since Mickey Knox in “Natural Born Killers,” and sultry Emma Stone as a riot grrrl on a mission to take her younger sister to a theme park, reportedly the last vestige of humanity and the only remaining zombie-free zone.

And there are gollops and gollops of gooey blood splattered from the very first frame.

Yet, much of “Zombieland” doesn’t hold up on second viewing. There are several quirky sight gags that director Ruben Fleischer employs, such as listing the Survival Rule on-screen, which remain funny. The initial zombie attack in Columbus’s dorm room is a doozey. And the celebrity cameo is still a laugh riot.

But the ending still feels rushed, and at a slight 88 minutes, it seems like there’s an entire half of a movie missing – maybe the half whereby someone explains a little more what happened and some sense of actual dread is generated.

“Zombieland” lacks the punch of other, better films. Even “Shaun of the Dead” had more depth than this. I guess what I’m saying is there should be a greater reward than watching Woody finally find a twinkie.

There’s already talk of a sequel - and in 3D, no less. Please do us a favor and put some thought into where this story goes next. Don’t rush it, don’t get bullied by studio suits who see dollar signs above a theater exit doorway and don’t just redo the same movie twice.

The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Emma Stone is smoldering in a breakout role.
Nudity – No.
Gore – Yes.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – Zombies.
Buy/Rent – Rent it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Exclusive: movieIQ enabled, “Beyond the Graveyard” picture-in-picture trivia track. Additional: Deleted scenes, audio commentary, trailers, featurettes “In Search of Zombieland,” “Zombieland Is Your Land” and “Visual Effects Progression Scenes.”
On the Web – http://www.zombieland.com/
Release Date – Feb. 2, 2010