Severed Thumbs: Zombieland

So before I start I'm going to just get some things straight. I know very little about film, my reviews are based on what I see and what I like and nothing else. My rating system is based off of what I perceive; as a disclaimer *and anyone who has known me long or well enough will agree to this* take whatever I say with a whole bloody shaker of salt. Now that that's done, ZOMBIELAND!

Okay so I'm going to start with the first 10 minutes of the movie and my experiences and go from there.

"cool, i like where this is headed. It takes place 2 months after the zombie apocalypse, I like the main character's rules."

*"For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Metallica starts to play, opening credits start*

"...this is fucking bangarang."

That said, Zombieland is a movie about 4 people who meet up in a post-apocalyptic world run by zombies. How they meet up? I refuse to say, there's going to be a lot of that in this review. So take "Wristcutters: A love Story", "Shaun of the Dead", and Woody Harrelson being a complete fucking bad ass and you have Zombieland. The Horror is there, the comedy is a nice after thought, and the movie is fantastically made and on such a small budget. The Make up effects are pretty standard for the zombie genre but there's one thing this movie has that others don't and that's *drum roll* FAT ZOMBIES! It makes perfect sense, dudes who can't run from a horde of flesh hungry former friends and family would be the first to go.
Now on to the characters. The narrator is Columbus, a 20 something year old shut in virgin who spent his entire life indoors. No Friends, no family, just Mountain Dew Code Red and World of Warcraft. His wits and cowardice have been his greatest assets in this Zombie World and he's survived because of them. He Meets up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) who has nothing left to live for besides twinkies and the idea of he's a pro at killing zombies. They meet up with Hot Chick (Wichita) and Little Girl from "Little Miss Sunshine" (Little Rock) and there we go, buddy road comedy in the making...with zombies. Don't let this lame synopsis fool you though, this movie is a must have in any zombie collection. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is up there with Evil Dead 2 and Shaun of the Dead (actually, the director Ruben Fleischer was inspired to make "Zombieland" when he saw "Shaun of the Dead".) The characters fit so well, you have the paranoid, Caulrophobic voice of reason, the Bad ass Shit Kicker, the Crafty hot chick and her 12 going on 30 little sister. This rounds out our family that we as viewers follow the whole movie.
What I especially loved about this movie is it takes place after the Zombie Apocalypse. These are the only 4 Humans we see in this desolate wasteland the entire movie. It's not "this shit is coming down and it's heavy" it's "this shit came down, now what?" Survival horror at its finest. I laughed, I cried, and there was just the right amount of gore and jumping from my seat. 5 out of 6 Severed Thumbs.