Zombieland

2009 ***1/2

I enjoyed this quite a bit. I don't have any strong opinions for or against the comedization or main-streamification of our friends the walking dead. As such I found Zombieland to be a well-penned bit of fun and a worthy addition to the world of cinema. But I'm having trouble figuring out what it lends to the world of horror.

If anything, it feels like this movie is borrowing a cup of horror from its neighbor, a neighbor who is an actual zombie movie. Not to be mean, but one of the movie's greatest strengths -- Jessie Eisenberg's list of rules -- is the centerpiece of a zombie movie in which the following common sense rule-breaking actions take place:

Going to an amusement park and turning on all the lights and rides without fortifying it or even looking around, and...

In the wake of the zombie apocalypse, when everyone is armed, putting on zombie makeup and creeping up on someone in order to make them think you're a zombie.

"I mean come ON!" said one of the voices in my head, and then, after a moment's thought: "Two months into the apocalypse and the utilities still work!?!.

But the rest of the voices were having a good time; the movie is well-written and well-acted, and for the most part earns the right to ignore some obvious zombie rules even while it purports to have the rule book. The filmmakers might be lampooning the source material, but it comes with respect.

And it's funny. I loved the opening scene (above) in which Jessie Eisenberg is running in wide loops around the parking lot, keeping ahead of his undead pursuers as he fiddles with his car door a little on each go-round (because they're zombies, and they're too stupid to do anything but chase him, so he knows when he drops his keys they'll still be there when he gets back). And while Woody Harrelson's Twinkie shtick was only so-so at times, I cracked up when I saw that truck full of Snowballs. I knew it would be Snowballs a split second before they fell out. Those are like the orange circus peanuts of snack cakes.

The right frame of mind to appreciate Zombieland is not too difficult to find. Just brace yourself for an unexpected valentine to Bill Murray and you'll be okay. But if you're in it for the zombies, you might be disappointed.