Friday, May 4, 2012

70 - Zombieland

    We follow a nervous, careful guy as he travels in a zombie-decimated America with a tough guy, played by Woody Harrelson.  They join up with a pair of girls, and make their way to the West coast.
    I saw this in the theaters, and I remember feeling a bit conflicted about it at the time.  It's fun.  It's shot very well - the sets, the effects, everything is a first rate job.  But the tone of the movie is actually too fun, and there are too many efforts to look cool.
    It reminds me of Scott Pilgrim V The World, which suffered from the same problem, but had separate issues, specifically that no one was really likable.  In this case, the characters are more charming, but the situation doesn't feel bleak enough.  Imagine the original Dawn of the Dead if you cut out the first 20 minutes, and cut off the last 20 minutes.  You'd be left with a movie that had no sense of menace, and beyond a minor inconvenience of clearing out the mall, no conflict at all.
    It's still very enjoyable.  But it doesn't have that stretch for greatness.

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