It Came From The Cineplex: Zombieland

I saw "Zombieland" this past weekend. The verdict? I loved it. The best time I've had at the movies in a long time. Maybe all year.

It's a worthy companion piece to one of my all-time favorite movie, "Shaun of the Dead." Part comedy, part gross-out horror, it's fast paced, surprising and demonstrates that there's still some life left in the old zombie genre after all (see what I did there?).

Woody Harrelson is absolutely perfect as Tallahassee (the characters only refer to themselves by where they hail from, as using personal names leads to heartache in a world overrun by zombies). He's hilarious as a bad-ass Southern boy who's finally found his calling in life: killing zombies.

Jesse Eisenberg also does a great job as Tallahassee's nervous and neurotic sidekick, who's managed to survive the apocalypse by adhering to a list of somewhat anal-retentive survival rules.

Emma Stone and Abagail Breslin also turn in fine performances as sisters who hook up with the guys.

This is a running zombie movie, by the way. A lot of so-called zombie purists don't like it when zombies run, and feel they should be slow and shambling as befits a dead thing. I say get over it. Fast, slow, they're all zombies in the end.

Amazingly the movie was reportedly shot for only $25 million, but looks like it cost three times more. That's shocklingly cheap these days, when even romantic comedies cost $50 million plus. It was filmed on location in Georgia rather than Hollywood, so that might explain how they got so much bang for their buck. I bet at least 75% of the movies I've seen this year were filmed outside of Hollywood. If they don't watch out they're going to price themselves right out of business.

There's also a celebrity cameo in the middle of the movie. I can't say any more without spoiling the surprise, so let's just say it was unexpected. And maybe a little too meta.

Highly recommended. I give it an A.

SECOND, MORE RATIONAL OPINION NOW THAT I'VE CALMED DOWN:
OK, this is one of my earliest reviews, written way back before I knew what I was doing and had found my voice. Obviously Zombieland doesn't warrant a full-blown A— obviously my bright-eyed, overenthusiastic naivete got the better of me. It's a B+ or even a B at best.