I thought the last act dragged in the usual way.

The Twinkie gag was tired, I agree, but I liked the final climactic scene. Had you not been such a Negative Nancy throughout it all, maybe you would have enjoyed it to. The sacrificial antihero, the uncourageous dork breaks his survival rules, etc. I like the characters. They’re nothing new – Tallahassee could easily be the loner hero Han, and Columbus could be the awkward, naive Luke, and Wichita could be the strong, independent Leia. The plot follows simple conventions.

So yes, the movie didn’t do anything new, I agree, but a lot of movies you and I both find entertaining don’t, which is why it didn’t overstay its welcome at 88-minutes. It’s like the carnival rides at the end of the movie – fun during the ride, but it’s not going to change your life. It’s a buddy road trip comedy with zombies and for me (and it looks like the majority of critics and moviegoers) it worked. You are very unpredictable, Andrew, because I’d definitely think this would be a movie that would be up your alley.

And c’mon… the cameo!!!

Did people really like the “climactic” scene at the end? Was it fun? Was it creative? Was it intense? None of the above. I just wanted to get out.

There’s nothing edgy or new to anything in here. And the funny thing is, people keep defending it but the one sentence review from everyone seems to be, “yeah, but it’s no Shaun of the Dead.”

I just think this is the most pandering movie of the year. Pandering to a bunch of people who don’t know any better.

Secondly, I couldn’t agree with Lucas’s comments more. I thought Woody brought a lot to his role that another actor couldn’t (I’m actually a part of the camp that thinks Woody is a pretty underrated actor, mind you) and Eisenberg also adds such subtlety to his roles. It’s not as good as Shaun of the Dead, not by a long shot, but the films don’t have the same agenda either. Andrew, you seem bitter towards this movie from the getgo and your indie band analogy just makes me shake my head, like with people who are like “OH MAN, I DISCOVERED KINGS OF LEON WAY BEFORE USE SOMEBODY WAS ON THE RADIO ALL THE TIME.” Yeah, shit, so what, I did too, why get defensive about it and all of the sudden say “Use Somebody” and Kings of Leon suck just because they are mainstream?

Anyway, the Bill Murray scene: HILARIOUS. One of the funniest scenes of the year.

I’d give the movie a 3.5/5 overall probably.

It seems like i have fuelled the fire and i must say, Andrew you have made some great arguments and extremley well-played moves to defend your final stance on the film.

Although i disagree with some of it, i bow down to you in great respect and honour for your firm stance on what seems to be, for myself, the best zombie movie of the year (although there where hardly any) and thus far, for me, the BEST comedy of the year!

SUP GOON! MUCH LOVE buddy!

If you started watching Zombie cinema with a stop-watch, you’d find that most entries, past and present, fit this description. The zombies in zombie movies are often a big fat macguffin for the filmmakers to say what they want to say…

I think this whole recent zombie craze just has left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s completely saturated the market and it’s pissing me off. I mean shit, we had TWO zombie pub crawls in Mpls in a two month period. Posers.

Agreed. Except these “talky” parts seemed to be just thrown in there because they didn’t have anything else. They were not very well thought out and again, snooze inducing. Where the fuck were the zombies? Seriously. Not counting the final act, how much of the other 70 minutes of this movie had actual zombies in it? 15 minutes… tops?

There seems to be some momentum with that post-Shaun, as in Pride&Prejudice-with-Zombies and Zombieland, The Revenant, and others….

I guess that’s where we’ll have to disagree. Great acting? Your standards are rather low then I think.

Not as good as Shaun of the Dead, I’ll grant you, but I’m willing to allow more than one zombie comedy to wear the tag “enjoyable.”

Oh, and also, I thought Abigail Breslin was really good – I’m not sure I’ve seen any of her movies since Little Miss Sunshine, and I was really impressed with how she’s grown and continues to be able to project a depth beyond her years.

This is better known as the “road movie”. My point is you are not giving credit to the experiences along the way, you are dismissing them in your review as if they don’t happen. The girls don’t just “tag along”.

Stuff like Woody Harrelson reacting to the cameo I thought was awesome. There is alot more humor than twinkies in the film. Eisenberg asserting himself with popcorn was great.

Wether or not the movie will be funny the second time, I will have to wait to judge untill I see it a second time. But who needs to see it a second time? How is this a valid complaint, “I might not like it next time”? I don’t get it. It doesn’t make your first experience any less valid, if your second experience differs from it. With these nonsense-movies, I don’t exactly feel a need to watch them a second time, I’m perfectly happy having seen it and enjoyed it. It was harmless and didn’t take itself seriously, had great acting and was funny. Nothing major, but I don’t expect or need anything major from something called Zombieland. I gave it 4/6 in my review.

I judge both. Your first statement there is correct. I admit it. But I also judge the movie. I didn’t find it entertaining at all. If you thought it was funny, then awesome. I thought it was terribly UNfunny. The Twinkie thing made me want to puke – but I guess if I was 14 it would’ve been humorous.

And no, this is a “point A to Point B movie”. Basically the movie starts with Eisenberg traveling to Columbus. He picks up Woody and then they keep traveling and then they pick up chick and they keep traveling and then there’s no zombie fighting, just not humorous moments in a truck and in a mansion. Then there’s a “climax” in an amusement park. Zzzzzzz.

Andrew, this is not meant to critique you per se, but I have to say this is the no.1 thing I hate about reviews. You’re not giving the movie a chance with this, as much as the commercial you are ruining it for an audience. It probably takes a good 40 minutes before the girls are tagging along with anything, and there is plenty of stuff going on before they do. Wether or not you cared about it is irrelevant, you are making it sound it like it’s nothing, when it is a big part of the movie.

I didn’t watch the trailer. I thought you didn’t watch trailers either?

Andrew, what, in your opinion, is lost in zombie culture by it becoming mainstream? I don’t think the band analogy works, because mostly there is a reason why a band all of a sudden break through, change in music or members or PR etc, but zombies? Zombies are just faceless enemies. If you think this movie didn’t treat zombies the way you wanted it to, that other movies have done it better then that is fine, but I don’t think that is the case, the zombies in this are the same as all other zombies I’ve seen. I mean, I didn’t hate Star Trek for trying to go mainstream, I just didn’t think it was that interesting, but you seem to be pissed off that all of a sudden you’re not the cool nerdy kid in school anymore, and you’re now actively seeking out something else to get into just to be different? It seems insincere. Just judge the movie, not it’s consequences.

Goon – “If it’s fun it’s fun.” Agreed (look at my love for Doomsday). Except Zombieland isn’t fun. It’s boring. It’s not even gimmicky. It’s boring. Aside from the cameo, everything good in the movie is in the trailer. If I were critiquing the trailer I would say thumbs up. I mean hell, the trailer even got my friend thinking the movie looked cool and she HATES zombie stuff and makes fun of me all the time for being “into it”.

I was wishing there was some artistry in the storytelling (say, like Pontypool Changes Everything…)

This sort of pandering and weird-ish wish fulfilment aspect of the movie has sort of turned me off bothering, the trailer was a lot of fun, and I just left it at that. TOo much other stuff (and not enough time!) to spend on this. I find it kinda sad that it has already made 4x Shaun of the Dead’s gross at the US box office….

I dont really give a fuck about zombies, if its fun its fun, its just another genre. I dont know if i see any genre or subgenre as some thing/band I possess, that sounds too broad.

anyways, its funny that its only when you go against the grain of what’s popular that the lurkers show up. Sup Lucas.

“The film plays out like a huge Halo extravaganza and really gives audience members this adrenaline and ludacris idea that living in a world filled with zombie would be fun and wild.”

Really? A) Shawn of the Dead did this MUCH better and B) it’s hardly a “Halo extravaganza.” It’s mostly just driving around and talking about relationships and stuff. There’s actually very little action or zombie extravaganza at all in the movie. And what they talk about is not entertaining, deep or funny. It’s just stupid. I refer you to the Twinkie thing again – it was lame.

Reading the Zombie Survival Guide was much more fun than this movie. And much more thorough and entertaining.

My favorite facebook group I belong to – that I now will probably drop out of because the mainstream is there and ruining it:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2210852390&ref=ts