Zombieland

It's to Zombieland's benefit that it pays no mind to the most obvious questions it poses. 1) Didn't Shaun of the Dead already perfect the zombie comedy? 2) Is Jesse Eisenberg's career relegated to playing neurotic 20-something virgins in movies with the suffix "-land"? Zombieland uses its redundancy as attitude---even the poster tagline wants you to shut up. At the end of the human race, during the zombie apocalypse, survivors Columbus (Eisenberg) and Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) have opposite approaches to survival and manhood. Columbus is anal-retentive and paranoid. Tallahassee loves the high of going "apeshit" on the undead. If the script were less thin (it's so calculating in its punchlines, it seems written by a sarcastic robot), there'd be some emphasis on them eventually trading roles. But at its brisk 80 minutes, Zombieland is thoroughly enjoyable. Harrelson and co-star Emma Stone do a good job of embodying comedically hardened B-movie action heroes. By accepting that his movie is inessential, director Ruben Fleischer allows Zombieland to be liberated fun. –Mark Palermo