“Zombieland” 2009 Blu-Ray Edition

Before I say anything else, I feel I should warn you: this movie is gruesome. If you have a weak stomach or can't stand the sight of blood, steer clear. “Zombieland” is a story set in the United States after a virus has converted almost everyone into zombies. It stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin.

From the first credits, it was easy to tell this movie was going to rely more on special effects and gore than on plot or storyline. That’s not to say the plot was bad, but it was definitely not original. Zombie movies have been around seemingly forever, and this one seemed to take a little bit from all of them. Eisenberg plays Columbus, one of the few remaining survivors of the zombie disaster. On his travels, he meets Tallahasse (Harrelson), who is on a mission to kill zombies and find the last remaining Twinkie. Also along for the ride are Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Breslin).

While watching this film, a few things occurred to me. First, Jesse Eisenberg was pretty much doing his best impression of Micheal Cera throughout the movie. Secondly, they seemed to force the “nice-guy with a tough exterior” onto Harrelson's character. They had established him as a no b-s guy who only cared about zombie killing and Twinkies. I felt they forced the inner-turmoil and sadness to make the audience care about him. In reality it just kind of cheapened what could have been a very cool character.

The high-def Blu-Ray version of “Zombieland” provided a perfect picture, making the blood-splatter and zombie-killing all the more disgusting, but the disc’s special features were nothing all that new, offering the usual “Making of” featurette and a filmmaker commentary. There is a picture-in-picture feature on the Blu-Ray version that can run throughout the movie, showing you artist concepts, how they performed certain stunts and other information hard-core movie buffs may fine interesting.

Overall, “Zombieland” was a decent film that will be appreciated most by fans of the genre. There are tons of movie references contained in the film as well, so movie buffs should have a good time finding them throughout the movie.

Best to watch this film for the pop-corn movie it is—good action, some funny lines and a surprising cameo. Just don't expect an extremely original plot-line or any Oscar-worthy performances.