Pun Salad

Mrs. Salad's six-word review of Zombieland: "Shoot, shoot, shoot. Gnaw, gnaw, gnaw." That's pretty accurate; I liked it a lot better than she did, but your mileage may vary; you probably have to have a high threshhold for gore, violence, and bad language.

The film's protagonist is "Columbus", a likeable nerd who has somehow survived the zombie apocalypse by meticulously discovering and following a long list of rules. (The role is played by Jesse Eisenberg, who I found whiny in Adventureland; he's much better here.) Columbus forms an unlikely partnership with "Tallahassee", played by Woody Harrelson. Tallahassee's goals differ slightly: he's out to kill as many zombies as possible, and also to satisfy a craving he's developed for Twinkies.

Soon Columbus and Tallahassee encounter two young unzombified ladies, "Wichita" and "Little Rock" (Emma Stone, and Little Miss Sunshine herself, Abigail Breslin.) They form an unstable partnership as well.

Everything is pretty much played for laughs here, and much of the dialog is clever and funny. (A considerable amount is not clever, but still funny.) A number of commenters/reviewers note that it's like an Americanized Shaun of the Dead, and that's about right.

There's a wonderful cameo performance midway through the movie that I will not spoil. But the actor involved cements my opinion of him as a massive good sport.