Zombieland

I loved the movie Zombieland. I've seen it a handful of times, and it cemented my man-crush on Jesse Eisenberg. It's a funny movie that balances the absurd, the funny, and packs a nice moral without ever even approaching heavy-handed.

When I heard there was a TV show with no Eisenberg or Harrelson or Stone or Breslin, all stocked with actors I didn't know or didn't like, I wasn't so happy. I said it was going to be awful and that I wouldn't watch it.

The result is better than I expected, but not what the movie offered, and frankly, if you go into it expecting the movie again, you'll be disappointed.

The movie had some fun dialogue and a present but subtle point. The TV show is much better at slap-stick gags. It showed a commitment to the dialogue and the theme and the character development, but it was honestly boring. That part is not written nearly as well as the movie, and I strongly suspect that it won't get better over time.

The slapstick gags are funny though. While predictable, there were several times I laughed out loud, which is something I seldom do for slap-stick comedy, especially if I go into it promising myself to dislike it. I had some really nice chuckles, which I seldom get from TV shows.

While I understand that this was never going to be the original part II, there was one major change I seriously disliked. In the original, Tallahassee was insane, neurotic, but the smartest one of the whole bunch in his own twisted way. Columbus was the bumbling clueless one, and Tallahassee was the one who protected him from zombies and girls. In the TV show, Tallahassee has lost about 50 IQ points. He went from an insane but bright zombie killing machine to a guy who to quote the show "asks for price checks at a 99 cent store." They did a decent job at capturing everyone else's character, but they practically killed Tallahassee.

The original Zombieland starred four actors with a combined four Oscar nominations. The TV show stars four people that I had barely heard of. The believably is a little stretched, Wichita no longer looks like Emma Stone, and Eisenberg's narration is no longer as fast or clear as it used to be. The storyline isn't as well written or as well acted as it was before. But it's funny. It's a TV show, so you were never going to get Eisenberg back. You were never going to get Hollywood writers working on a draft for years at a time.

But it has some things right. In addition to some nice cheap laughs, it has the theme right. At the end of it all when the zombies get to us, what are you going to miss? It won't be TV, it won't be IMDb. It'll be people. As much as Wichita and the others don't want to hear it, the show keeps the family motif right, and Tallahassee still demonstrates that if life is worth living, it's worth living now. To quote the show, "If God sent you back to Earth five minutes, and those five minutes was right now, what would you do with it?" It's an important question that too many people never ask. They get up, go to a job they hate, eat food they dislike, come back to a family they resent, and spend their whole lives looking forward to the weekend, which always disappoints. And the show, like the movie, promises that there's more, and it's all around you right now. The TV show is probably heavier handed than this review while the movie was very beautifully subtle, but it's there. The TV show might be very different in form and delivery, but when it comes down to the point, it's the same in substance.

So the rating breakdown goes like this for people: A handful of zombie apocalypse nuts giving this a 10, a bunch of frustrated people who wanted more of the movie giving it a 4, and a few people in the middle who like it for what it is, not what it isn't.

I missed this whole thing with the pilot and the voting and the this and the that, and now the whole project is scrapped. But that will not stop me from reviewing it! Nevar!

OK. So, I enjoyed this. The first minutes are absolutely perfect. Sort of clever. Then it goes a little downhill, not a steep hill though.

The main problem I think people had with this is that these actors are playing the characters from the movie. That was a mistake. I actually didn't realize it until the at the end, haha. Now, I'm not sure if it would be better to have new characters, but it probably would.

The violence is great. There's swearing, which always elevates things. The actors are alright. Yeah it's kind of clichéd here and there, but I think this would have made an entertaining show had it been green-lit. But we will never know now, will we!? Probably not.

The guy playing Woody Harrelsons character is sort of funny. Not my favorite cup of tea, but he did alright. The rest ain't much to say about, really.

As a TV-short this is enjoyable.'

I feel sort of sorry for the actors involved, they were probably real happy to land this part, and then the whole thing just falls apart. Hang in there, folks!

The first episode was very entertaining. The down falls are few. The hardest part for me was getting over the change of characters from the movie. I mean Woody Harelson is one of the best actors out their. Then Emma Stone Abigail Breslin and Jesse Eisenberg are doing very well in their careers. Personally i enjoyed the movie very much. But once you get over the change of characters the show is in my opinion one of the better comedy t.v. shows on the up and coming.I enjoyed the show and believe you will do the same.Oh and don't watch this with your kids. Lots of generated blood and lots of comedic death of zombies. But i think young adults will like this if it gets pushed. I like the character choice and believe that 8/10 is reasonable. I want to see if amazon can pull this off and if it the second episode can bring my 8 up to a ten :)

First of all, I would like to say that before taking the time to write a review, I first read a few that were written by others. It seems that the common consensus among the other people who wrote reviews was that the show sucked because it didn't have the all-star cast that the film had. I also liked the original cast (especially Harrelson), but obviously they didn't have the option of retaining those elite actors.

All in all, the actors that they use for the show do a pretty good job with it. The guy that plays Tallahassee is almost as good as Harrelson. The girl that plays Wichita may be even better than Emma Stone was in the film. The only real downfall in the cast was that the kid who plays Columbus doesn't have that quirky greatness that we come to expect from Eisenberg, but he still isn't bad.

The show is pretty entertaining, and the dialog is absolutely hilarious. Sure the movie may have been better, but overall I'd give the pilot an 8 out of 10. I personally cant wait for more episodes!

I just want to point out that I watched this pilot episode after reading some gray reviews expecting a bad time... and boy! I got one. First: empathy is missing among the characters. The group seems like a bag of cats... and man, in a post-apocalyptic world, food is not scarce! Second: children and zombies don't match! Isn't The Walking Dead a good example of that? Children usually nullifies the character taking care of them... and the last thing we expect to see are parents on their knees explaining the children why Mr. Zombie is eating that man's guts. Third: when using a movie concept, please consider to change the names, especially if the actors/actresses are not the same. Last, but not the least: humor. It is funny but the laugh you may get will not be fulfilling or satisfying to break-even the time invested. Not seeing it going any further than this pilot episode. It got a 5/10 for the effort.