I loved it. It wasn’t a given, mind you. Not all zombie movies are created equal.

There’s lotsa crap out there, along with the (few and far between) gems such as Shaun of the Dead, a zombie flick that was hilarious, creepy, romantic and definitely left-of-center in terms of normal zombie movies. Zombieland, for better or worse, will probably get compared to SotD quite a lot. For what it’s worth, I’d say Zland holds its own and way more different than previews and early buzz may lead you to believe. As is my way, I’m not going to straight review the film, just bullet point my thoughts on the movie as they come out of my delicious brains.

• Running zombies. It was pretty clear the zeds are runners from all the clips and trailers, but that was one of the first things I focused on while watching the movie. I have no ill-will towards the runners, so whatevs, but I know that irks many a zombie traditionalist.
• I dug the soundtrack. The first song in the movie is Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” a song I’ve long had in my zombie-stomper playlist. After that, you have Band of Horses, Velvet Underground, Van Halen, Hank Williams and more.
• It was a slick-lookin’ movie. Shot well, the colors really popped and the slow mo bits—while maybe a little too long at points—looked really neat.
• It was damn funny. Sure, there were some slow points, but I definitely laughed until I coughed a few times. A far-from-perfect script (moreso in plot than dialogue, but it’s a fucking zombie movie, so I’m not that stressed), but there are some bits that make me chuckle thinking about them.
• “Nut up or shut up” probably would’ve been funnier and more of a “killer catch-phrase” if I hadn’t heard 80 million times in promotions leading up the movie’s release.
• Woody Harrelson was great. He nailed the funny, was convincingly badass and hit just the right notes on the (otherwise cheesy) emotional moments.
• I think I like the kid who’s not Michael Cera more than Michael Cera. Jesse Eisenberg, yeah, that guy. I like that kid.
• Emma Stone, with that husky/lispy voice, pulls off the cute/kickass thing admirably. I liked her character, at least until she went off the deep end of believability. And the girl from Little Miss Sunshine wasn’t bad. I had to turn to @badcoverversion and verify that she was the same little girl.
• There’s a cameo in the movie that I won’t spoil here. And I was really enjoying the movie until that scene. But it with that scene where the movie and I really clicked. Fuck. I want to talk about that part, but don’t want to ruin the surprise any more.
• There’s a scene after the credits. Stay. Your patience shall be rewarded.
• I’m running out of steam in terms of writing, so just go see it. Zombieland’s definitely one of my favorite movies of 2009. Hell, once the credits started rolling, I looked at @badcoverversion and said, “Awesome. Can we watch it again?”