Why I Saw This: It looked funny. It's also nice to see a zombie story that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Cast: Nicholas Hoult is one of those actors who I'm totally ready to love even though he hasn't been in anything that really wowed me. It's nice to see him in a starring role and he nails it. Playing a recovering zombie well hardly sounds like a compliment but it's harder than it looks. Teresa Palmer has one of those faces that looks familiar (a friend described her as a cross between Kristen Stewart and Natalie Portman) even though I haven't seen her in anything before. She plays off Hoult well enough although she's primarily used to be reactionary. Analeigh Tipton is a scene stealer with some of the best lines. Rob Corddry is what he looks like in the previews and not much else (not said as a slant). Poor Dave Franco is barely in it. And, I assume John Malkovich just liked the script or something because he is too good for the part he plays and doesn't have any room to make something more of it.
Plot: This is a comedy and that's for the best because, had they played it straight, there'd be a lot of holes to poke in it. The whole story is basically that there's a zombie apocalypse and one of the zombies falls in love with a pretty living girl and they start a sort of revolution. Most of the fun is in the zombie narration by Hoult and the fact that they are telling the story from his perspective rather than a human one. It's heavy on the love story but it is handled in an endearing and comical way.
Elephant in the Room: So, this is like a funny, zombie Twilight? No. It's more like Zombieland if Jesse Eisenberg was a zombie. In fact, I might change the formula at the top to that. It's more sweet than it is laugh out loud funny, so I think some people will look at it from the wrong angle which would be a mistake. Perhaps it's better to call it a romantic comedy but with Zombies. Sort of hoping to be the perfect date movie concoction.
To Sum Things Up:
Honestly, I was hoping for a more straight up comedy, but that's my own expectations clouding things. For a February release, I have no significant complaints about it. Easily the best non-awards contending movie I've seen for a while.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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