While Shaun of the Dead set the bar for zombie comedies (and who ever guessed that would become a film genre?), the tongue-in-cheek mayhem of first-time director Ruben Fleischer's Zombieland is a solid runner-up, offering a lot of genuine laugh-out-loud moments amid the gore.
The setting is the now-familiar post-apocalyptic aftermath of the zombie uprising, with a few survivors roaming the landscape in tricked-out SUVs, armed to the teeth and identifying themselves only by their former hometowns. Our guide is nerdy Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg, Adventureland), who shares his rules for survival, such as "beware of bathrooms" and the "double tap" -- a second bullet in the brain, just in case that zombie's not entirely dead.
On his way home to Ohio, Columbus meets up with the fearless Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who takes pride -- and no small amount of pleasure -- in his skills at zombie-killing. Guns, knives, garden tools ... whatever gets the job done, he'll use it, and his goal is to off as many of the decaying fiends as he can. That, and find some Twinkies. The two team up, then add a pair of young female grifters, Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) to their group, deciding to make a cross-country trek west so that Wichita can take Little Rock to an amusement park supposedly devoid of all undead.
Zombieland is smartly written, well cast and deftly directed, a road movie that's also a snappy scare flick with all of the giggly, gross fun that good horror movies offer. It's a comedy, yes, but also a gut-clenchingly suspenseful zombie film with creatively disgusting kills and a lot of morbid humor. And there are moments in the film, especially one set piece involving a famous actor playing himself, that are so unusual and unexpected that they elevate Zombieland beyond its own gimmick, turning it into terrific entertainment that's well worth the ticket price.