I came in with very small expectations for Zombieland. I'm still beefing with Columbia Pictures prez Amy Pascal over her treatment of Steven Soderbergh. But she done good on this one. The film is a machine. It gives the audience just what it wants - laughs, thrills, horror conventions. Jesse Eisenberg carries the film, his neurotic tendencies overwhelming Woody Harrelson, who does a fine job (although he says "Nut up or shut up" one-too-many times). The film ends just as we'd like it to, is thoroughly predictable and yet also surprising in the way it chooses to be predictable (if that makes sense). There's a great cameo, which you may have heard about, but I won't spoil it for you here.
The film's director, whose presence is so inconspicuous his name isn't worth mentioning, contributes a few interesting visual flourishes - the rules to surviving Zombieland are especially amusing.
Zombieland is the type of film that anyone - from an infant to your grandmother (god rest her soul) - can watch and enjoy: present company included. [B+] - Ryan Sartor.
