How to Watch: “Zombieland”

539wStep 1: Laugh your ass off. As a cleverly executed horror comedy, Zombieland will keep you in stitches, even as the zombies are trying to rip you apart.

Step 2: Observe the carefully laid-out rules of escaping zombies, and you just might survive being a “Happy Meal.” Take Rule No. 2, for example, called the Double Tap: If you shoot a zombie and it falls down, make sure to immediately get another shot directly into its head. Thus effectively killing said zombie without any injury or risk of infection. Or Rule No. 24: Don’t be a hero. These rules have been created by neurotic college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), as a way to survive the last two months while the world population has been zombie-fied.  As he wades through the  post-apocalyptic landscape on his way home to Columbus, Ohio (no one gives their real names in this), he inadvertently joins forces with three other human survivors: Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a take-no-prisoners cowboy; Wichita (Emma Stone), a badass con artist who’s only looking out of herself and her younger sister, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), a spitfire in her own right. To say these four have major trust issues is an understatement, but it’s something they are going to have to work on if they plan on living through the next 48 hours.

Step 3: Pick the choice humans to survive. Harrelson continues to select those offbeat roles that suit him best. His Tallahassee has adapted to the new environment well and has found his true niche in life: being an expert at killing zombies. He really gets some good ones in there. Eisenberg zombieland1(Adventureland) plays the same guy he’s been playing, which works fine here; he also has a penchant for movies whose titles end in “land.” Stone adds to her repertoire, having played the cool girl (Superbad), the geeky girl (House Bunny) and now the femme fatale, while Breslin displays some of her Little Miss Sunshine sensibilities once again.

Step 4: Also pick one of the best cameos in a long while. I’m not going to give away who it is because the moment must be experienced and treasured on your own (and DON’T look at the credits on iMDB.com, you’ll just spoil it).

Step 5: Think outside the box. Zombieland screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick sort of  mix together all kinds of genres – horror, post-apocalypse, road comedy, love story – but what makes it the most entertaining is first-time director Ruben Fleischer’s vision. From the opening slow-mo shots of pure gore-ific mayhem, as the zombies come to life, chase and eat people, while Columbus explains some of his hard and fast rules, you know Zombieland is going to be one heck of a unique, hilarious ride. This is definitely one to own on DVD, especially if there’s a ton of bonus features.

Level of difficulty in watching Zombieland: As easy as this rule: You gotta enjoy the little things. [Note: Stay through the end of the credits for an extra scene]