Zombieland is a fun movie. I don’t want anyone to get the impression that I’m against it, because I certainly felt that I received my money’s worth from it. My only real objection is the assertion that it’s higher tier than Shaun of the Dead, or that Shaun is somehow second-tier at all.

This might be a controversial statement around these parts, but I claim without hyperbole that Shaun of the Dead does for the zombie film everything that Kill Bill did for every damn thing Tarantino watched in his youth. Namely, it dissects a genre that’s generally poorly considered in a way that’s both accessible to the standard audience member while still sneaking in enough shout-outs to the hardcore faithful to keep the experience interesting (I saw Shaun in a packed theatre, and I’m confident that I was the only one who laughed at Ed’s “We’re coming to get you, Barbara!” line). In fact, I’d argue that it should be no surprise that Tarantino provided commentary for Spaced, or that Wright, Pegg and Frost were brought in to make Don’t for Grindhouse; Tarantino and Wright seem to have similar levels of obsession and dedication to their source material in a way that translates beautifully on screen.

Also, the twin tracking shots where Shaun visits the convenience store before and after the zombie infection rank as my third favorite in all of film (I’m a sucker for a good tracking shot, and I believe that only Children of Men and Touch of Evil have ever done them better).

It’s pretty clear that the cast and crew of both films had a blast. It comes through on screen, and it really makes both movies more enjoyable for the audience. For me, though, Zombieland feels more essentially Hollywood than essentially zombie. I don’t know if there’s a particular word to describe the feeling, but it basically feels to me that the zombies were interchangable with whatever antagonist was hot at the time; if the film had been made in the 90s, they would have fought dinosaurs; in the 80s, they would have fought ninjas.

Final Note: Running zombies are rubbish. The day that we accepted our first running zombie, we took our first fateful step towards vampires that sparkle in sunlight.

Also, I couldn’t take my eyes off Emma Stone, and I put disproportionate weight on such things: