Zombieland Review

Zombieland is advertised badly. Every advertisement I've seen for the film features the gimmick of the theme park in some way. The trailers all show a scene with zombies being crushed by a fairground ride, the poster displays the cast standing in front of a fairground, and even the title alludes to the setting. Why is this bad?

About ten minutes of the film is set there.

Advertising scruples aside, let's dive in shall we? The film revolves around Columbus' (Jesse Eisenberg) desperate attempt to survive in a zombie ridden America. Along the way he encounters the Twinkie obsessed cowboy Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and the two immoral sisters, Wichita and Little Rock (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin respectively). Aside from this very little happens. The plot and comedy is mostly derived from the character's internal conflicts (an example of which would be Columbus' internal monologue, which is reminiscient of Scrubs – but with zombies), and the setting. Occasionally some gratuitous violence or a cameo is thrown in for good messure.

From the outset, a character based zombie comedy may not sound like such a great idea. It doesn't really play on the zombie film sub-genre itself for comedy (except in a very obvious social satire way), and it relies entirely on the ability of the script-writers. Whilst this has been pulled off before to amazing effect (see Shaun of the Dead), you'd be forgiven for doubting its appeal.

Fortunately, Zombieland has one feature which catapults you easily into the rest of the film: the protagonist. As already mentioned, large amounts of the story are told via Coloumbus' internal monologue. These sections not only provide succinct aids to the plot, but also help to create the most wonderfully identifiable and neurotic character I can remember in recent film history. Both the scripting and the acting are equally creditable for this, with some brilliant lines being delivered in a quite frankly perfect manner by Jesse Eisenberg. In fact, this character is so fantastically crafted that he is able to support the rest of the film on his shoulders one the few occasions it falls flat.

Not that it falls flat often. Each of the supporting characters is instantly likeable, and wonderfully scripted as well. Special credit must go to Woody Harrelson for his fantastic portrayal of Tallahassee, but the two girls are both fantastic as well. Past this, the action sequences are filmed with a perfect tone, the scripting is almost flawless and I can honestly say that I was never bored.

The one complaint I do have is that around the 40 minute mark the film slows down quite considerably. It speeds up again when a certain (and awesome) cameo comes into play, but a large section of the film feels quite stale compared to the rest. Luckily most of this sustained by our lead and what results is by no means bad film making. Its just outshone by what went before it and what happens after it.

To sum up, Zombieland is the only genuinely funny comedy I've seen in a long time. It has a few failings which make it fall short of the only other zombie comedy worth its salt (Shaun of the Dead) but it still managed to leave me feeling satisfied. Check it out.

9/10

RunMan: Race Around The World Review

It's been pretty dark around here of late. From uploading my own poetry and short fiction – none of which have even the slightest shred of happiness in them – to studying William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus for university, it's been a long time since I did anything happy. Coincidentally, it's also been a long time since I had any money. The cure to both of these dilemmas comes in the form of RunMan, a lovely little independently developed game which can be downloaded for free here.

Now that I've said it's free you all think my standards have dropped, that if some thing's free then it's not worthwhile. Well, I'll have you know that my standards haven't dropped; I'm not giving anything back to the community, the community can fuck-off. Just because this game is free does not mean that I'm going to conclude my review with some benign statement like “what have you got to lose?” If it's shit I'll call it.

It is free though. Just saying.

Anyway, moving on from the fact that this wonderful game is completely free; RunMan: Race Around The World centres around the character of RunMan as he... races around the world. Well, you gotta hand it to them: they know how to be consistent. And this is is a video-game, the plot isn't important! It's all about the gameplay, which is actually very good here.

The game is a simple two dimensional platformer, with the objectives of all platformers: get to the end of the level. Each “zone” is divided into several levels with a boss level at the end. This is massively helped by the game's level design, which is some of the best I've ever seen. Several features have been added to vary things, most noticeably the sprint which speeds the game up and keeps it interesting for experienced players. The one complaint I do have is that the boss stages are always exactly the same thing sped up slightly. It's a minor complaint, but still enough to bring you back to the real world.

However, it's the game's graphics and sound which really make it worthwhile. The art work is intentionally cartoony and badly drawn, colour is used far too much, and the overall effect is that of a children's cartoon book. It's fucking wonderful! Add in some music which you just wouldn't expect, and this game is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

So, overall RunMan is an exceptionally well-made, fun, and simply joyous game. It harkens back to the days of gaming's infancy, provided tight level design, childish and amusing storytelling, and a look which is both wholly unique and all too familiar. The only complaints I can think to offer are the boss battles, and the game's length (clocking at roughly an hour and a half). Whilst there is some replay value (character unlocks etc.) it's not really all that worthwhile. Still, definitely worth a look.

And it's free.

8/10