Zombieland is quick and efficient at immediately setting the appropriate tone for its premise. It opens with a narration about how the Earth has gone to complete hell; a stain of mad cow disease ending up having horrific ramifications on the human brain, causing those infected with the virus to become hatefully violent and having a “really really bad case of the munchies”. The premise draws similarities to past zombie films, especially when an unnamed survivor is seen getting his guts ripped out by one of the infected. Yet the tone immediately shifts from grim to comedic when the infected human looks straight into the camera and tries picking a bit of flesh out of his blood-stained teeth before burping loudly. The camera then zooms out to show the world in an over-the-top fiery apocalyptic state that would be impossible for any human to continue living on, with the narrator declaring The United States to now be The United States of Zombieland.
The message is quite clear: Zombieland is not taking its premise seriously and the audience should take everything seen with a grain of salt. The lighthearted tone is emphasized when the narrator begins explaining his rules for survival—told in a rather deadpan tone alongside horrific and gruesome imagery of survivors getting mauled by zombies. These rules are one of the film’s distinguishing factors from past zombie stories—a set of guidelines to follow to survive being killed.
Rule #1: Good Cardio to outrun the zombies.
Rule #2: Make sure to Double Tap the zombies in case the first shot didn’t kill.
Rule #3: Beware of Bathrooms, don’t get caught by a zombie with your pants down.
One of the rules ends up being a humorous subversion when a woman is seen driving from a bunch of infected girls, only to be killed by crashing and flying out her windshield; “You have to focus, on your own survival, which leads to Rule #4. Pretty basic. Fasten Your Seatbelts. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.”
The film then jumps to memorable opening credits—a hilariously awesome slow-motion montage of various zombie attacks accompanied by Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Told. There’s a doomsday prophet being proved right as he’s mauled by the apocalypse, a groom’s toast interrupted by his zombified bride, a gentlemen's club where the payers are, for once, running away from the stripper, and a tuxedo-wearing man doing his best Scarface impersonation against multiple zombies. I love the creativity in this opening and how the credits interact with the events going on—getting shattered by weapons or people running through them.
Zombieland then introduces its unnamed protagonist (Jesse Eisenberg), who is both the film’s main character and its narrator. It's worth noting how the protagonist and narrator seem to be separate beings despite both being played by Eisenberg, with the narrator being aware and documenting events that the protagonist does not have knowledge of—such as the opening events, cuts to other characters across the country, and when he gives a detailed backstory on two central characters the protagonist just met. The film's protagonist is scrawny in appearance, passive in nature, kind yet cowardly, consistently jittery, and has a rather deadpan sense of humor towards Zombieland; “I'm in Garland, Texas. And it may look like zombies destroyed it, but that's actually Garland.” He states the reason he's been able to survive as long as he has is due to his anti-social, loner nature:
I may seem like an unlikely survivor with all my phobias and irritable bowel syndrome, but I had the advantage of never having any friends or close family. I survived because I played it safe and follow the rules...
The protagonist's rules play a unique function in the film similar to the opening credits. The worded rules consistently pop up when in use to remind the audience of his success for survival. When being chased by two fast zombies, the protagonist outpaces them by running around the parking lot—a big sign saying Rule #1: Cardio popping up as one of the zombies smashes right through the O. He tries to get his car but ends up being too slow, doing another lap around the parking lot as the rule appears again—now accompanied by blinking lights and sound to emphasize the importance of cardio. When a zombie ends up in the back of his car, the protagonist drives right into a wall—sending the zombie flying forwards and him remaining safe and buckled in as Rule #4 appears clipping itself together by the B.
Right around the apocalypse’s start, the protagonist helped an attractive next-door neighbor—referred to by her room number 406—after she was attacked and bitten by a homeless man. Despite claiming to be a loner, the protagonist has a clear longing for human contact and does well with comforting 406 after such a traumatic event. He almost gets the courage to brush 406’s hair behind her ear—something he’s always wanted to do with a girl—yet chickens out despite the perfect opportunity. He ends up falling asleep and really lucks out as 406 turns and only decides to attack just as he’s waking up. The following scene is a good blend of genuine somberness, grisly-action, and black comedy as the protagonist struggles to kill 406—pleading with her to stay back yet ultimately killing her with a toilet tank swung twice to the head (the scene freeze-framing on the second swing as the Double Tap rule comes popping onto the screen). The protagonist laments about the situation; "You see, you just can't trust anyone. The first girl I let into my life and she tries to eat me." and yet still aims to change his empty life in the zombie apocalypse:
I've always been kind of a loner, I avoided other people like they were zombies; even before they were zombies. Now that they are all zombies, I kinda miss people. So I'm on my way from my college dorm in Austin, Texas to Columbus, Ohio. Where I’m hoping my parents are still alive.
On his way, the protagonist runs into the film’s second central character (Woody Harrelson). Where Eisenberg's character shares comparisons with Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, Harrelson's character is more akin to Ash from Army of Darkness—a badass, brawling gunslinger who's in the ass-kicking business (and business is good). The film emphasizes this by giving a two-second cut of him wearing a welding mask while duel-wielding chainsaws—chasing the zombies as everyone else is chased by them. After a brief tense shotgun standoff—that humorously ends with the protagonist giving the thumbs up for a ride—the latter agrees to give the protagonist a ride to his destination. Harrelson's character refuses to hear the protagonist's name, most likely to prevent any bonding, with the two referring to each other by their destination—the protagonist being Columbus and the gunslinger being Tallahassee. These are the only names given to these characters throughout the film, and the names I will refer to them from now on.
Columbus is hesitant to ride with Tallahassee for more the obvious reasons, yet ultimately decides having an action hero as extra muscle is worth the risk. The pair makes for a great contrast in personality—and when combined with the acting talents of Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, end up making some excellent comedy and memorable interactions. I love when Tallahassee offers Columbus a shot of whiskey and, without hesitation, tosses the liquor out the window as soon as Tallahassee isn't looking (Eisenberg’s comedic timing here is on point). Their tactics towards the apocalypse—Tallahassee’s badass, no-nonsense approach vs Columbus’ cautious and sensible yet dorky approach—come into conflict at times, such as when they stop to check up on a truck:
Tallahassee: You coming?
Columbus: Uh yes, yeah, one second (starts doing stretching exercises)
Tallahassee: Are you f***ing with me?
Columbus: No. You should actually, limber up as well especially, if you're going down that hill it's very important.
Tallahassee: I don't believe in it. You ever seen a lion limber up before taking down a gazelle?
Or when they discuss the various rumored safe zones:
Columbus: I've heard there's a place untouched by all this crap?
Tallahassee: Back east, yeah.
Columbus: Yeah, you heard the same thing?
Tallahassee: Out west we hear back east. Back east hear it's here out west. And it's all just nonsense. You know, you're like a penguin on the north pole, hear the south pole is really nice this time of year.
Columbus: There are no penguins on the north pole.
Tallahassee:…You wanna feel how hard I can punch?
Despite his assertive and aggressive behavior, Tallahassee appears to enjoy Columbus's company. While driving, he starts up a conversation asking about when Columbus last got laid. Columbus, who is most definitely a virgin, quickly makes up a story about having sex three weeks ago with a woman named "Beverly Hills". The story is clearly fake yet Tallahassee goes along with it, even acting impressed. It's likely that Tallahassee has not gotten laid in a while as well (he’s interrupted when Columbus turns the question around), and that—whether he realized it or not—brought up the topic to learn more about and/or act friendly towards Columbus. This is emphasized by Tallahassee sticking with Columbus even after their car gets stolen and when he reveals a bit of his own backstory about his beloved puppy Buck who was killed by the zombies.
Tallahassee believes that even during the zombie apocalypse (or perhaps especially during the zombie apocalypse) that you have to enjoy the little things, some advice that Columbus takes to heart and even writes down in his rules book as #31. The littlest thing that Tallahassee yearns for is a Twinkie—something Columbus theorizes has to do with it representing a more innocent time. Yet Tallahassee can not find any and is plagued with finding Hostess Sno Balls instead:
Tallahassee: Sno Balls?...Where's the f***ing Twinkies?
Columbus: I like Sno Balls.
Tallahassee: I hate coconut. Not the taste, the consistency. Oh, this Twinkie thing it ain't over yet.
Tallahassee decides the risk it, despite Columbus's reasonable apprehension, by going into a supermarket and searching for any Twinkies. Armed with various weapons and giving the film's signature catchphrase "Time to nut up or shut up!", Tallahassee and Columbus head into the supermarket. Tallahassee starts off by pulling out a banjo and playing the Dueling Banjos theme, drawing some rather obese zombies out. Tallahassee runs at the zombie quoting a pretty dark line from Deliverance “You got a purdy mouth” before triple tapping the zombie’s face in with the banjo. A clear fan of the action genre, Tallahassee continues his close combat assault by using a baseball bat to hit a zombie homerun. He then discards the still perfectly usable metal bat for a pair of hedge trimmers, taking a “little off the top” on the final zombie. The scene is a great bit of action and comedy, improved with how I now recognize the Deliverance references—a film I didn’t know even existed back in 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment