“Zombieland” 2009

Director: Ruben Fleischer
A while back I wrote about “Dead Snow” and ‘fessed up to my endless fascination with movies about the undead—specifically ravenous, merciless zombies who like to chomp on brains as they surround the usual bunch of humans who have turned into mercenaries in order to survive.
“Zombieland” has a sharp script and a fine cast. The zombies are quick on their feet and enjoy munching on the few people left in the world.
The movie is played mostly for laughs and gross outs—and works well despite the last fifteen minutes or so that seem a bit perfunctory. There’s also a terrific cameo by Bill Murray. Catch it on cable when it pops up.
As for all of my fellow zombie-lovers: some need to lighten up in their comments about this zombie flick or that zombie flick, pointing out flaws, inconsistencies of plot, absurdities. Let’s face it: all zombie movies are absurd. If you think about it, it makes no sense that dead people—no matter how ambulatory—would have any hunger at all. We eat to live. If we were dead, why would we need to eat human brains—or any other human part? We’d just be wandering around the streets or in our homes, bumping into things or other zombies. Pretty damn dull.
So let’s just sit back, make some popcorn and enjoy 90 minutes with the ridiculous—but usually quite entertaining—undead.