Zombieland and Sweeney Todd
So, both movies were pretty GD awesome. Zombieland was kind of like an American attempt at zombedy much like Shaun of the Dead put a uniquely British spin on the genre. It’s not subtle. At all. But it was definitely a fun movie, even for those who may not generally go for the Zed word.
I appreciated a couple things specifically: first, the movie takes the ‘virus’ approach much like 28 Days Later which—for me—gives the whole experience a foot grounded within reality. It’s the whole ‘people connect better when there’s a bit of realism involved’ thing. Second, the humor grounded the characters a lot, again like SotD. When the the Michael Cera-esque Columbus hops on a motorcycle, he doesn’t ride heroically into the sunset. Instead the World of Warcraft shut-in whose virginity is ‘justifiably debatable’ handles the bike about as well as one would expect. In much the same way that Shaun was an average guy trying to save his girlfriend and mum, these are average people trying to find safety. And Twinkies.
Big downfalls? For me, I’m tired of computer-generated effects. When did it become cost-effective enough to digitally render smoke coming out of an engine rather than making a prop that actually emits smoke? And, one of the best elements of the film, Columbus’s rules for surviving Zombieland, are under-utilized. Sure, they pop up often enough, but out of 32, you only learn maybe 8 or 9. Although I could understand that it may have broken up the plot a bit here and there, a few more rules could have been pulled off successfully.
And Sweeney Todd capped off the night. I hadn’t seen the Burton/Depp version, but was pleasantly surprised. Again, a lot of odd CGI choices that annoyed the heck out of me, but overall a quality movie and surprisingly good on-screen musical. And, all of the actors could sing. It wasn’t like Mama Mia and the unfortunate casting of Pierce Brosnan. Yikes.
Just remember rule number four, the Double Tap. It would have saved Sweeney Todd.
October 3, 2009 at 10:51 am | Random | 2 comments
48 Days Later?
Touché.