Zombieland
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: October 2, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesMichael Ordona
First-time feature director Ruben Fleischer brings impeccable timing and bloodthirsty wit to the proceedings. Cinematographer Michael Bonvillain captures some interesting images amid the post-apocalyptic carnival of carnage, as when he transforms the destruction of a souvenir shop into a rough ballet. Read full review
90
Film ThreatElias Savada
Thankfully there's nothing remotely serious about Zombieland. It's just a heck of carnival attraction (Shoot the ducks/Shoot the zombies) on a roller coaster filled with laughs. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Zombieland is dead set against being dead serious. Its tonal pallor has more in common with a foreshortened "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" than with "28 Days" or "Weeks Later," and then, again, there's that jaw-dropping cameo. It'll kill ya. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Warts, entrails and all, I had a ball at Zombieland. It’s 81 minutes of my kind of stupid. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Modestly clever, this is definitely a little thing. Enjoy. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Mostly, it's just wicked fun. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
At the bone, Zombieland is a polished, very funny road picture shaped by wisenheimer cable-TV sensibilities and starring four likable actors, each with an influential following. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
The four protagonists aren’t about to let something as minor as the complete breakdown of society get in the way of having a good time, and their fun proves infectious. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Falling closer in tone to "Shaun of the Dead" than "28 Days Later" or the George Romero movies, Zombieland has its tongue planted firmly in its rancid cheek while still delivering the visceral goodies. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss
An exhilarating ride, start to finish. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg set a high bar for this subgenre with "Shaun of the Dead," but Reese, Werner and Fleischer may have trumped them. This isn't just a good zombie comedy. It's a damn fine movie, period. And that's high praise, coming from a vampire guy. Read full review
80
SlateJosh Levin
These down moments are fleeting, drowned out by the joyous din of zombie slaying and a scattering of subtler touches, such as Woody Harrelson's shotgun-savant Tallahassee painting a "3" on the side of his various commandeered vehicles, presumably a tribute to NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The picture is beautifully paced, with an exhilarating, comically violent opening, a halcyon middle section where, in what could be viewed as a sideways homage to "Rebel Without a Cause," our rootless wanderers share a brief respite in an empty, lavish mansion, and a finale filled with light and color and movement (as well as piles of vanquished zombies). Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
The secret in this case is the jokes, which are ferocious. Marrying a monster flick with an adolescent romance has produced a merry mutant. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Who would have guessed such a funny movie as Zombieland could be made around zombies? No thanks to the zombies. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Scary? Yes, in spots. Gratuitously gory? You bet. But, first and foremost, Zombieland is a comedy. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
It also boasts one of the funniest, loopiest Woody Harrelson turns in years. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
What Zombieland’ has instead - in spades - is deliciously weary end-of-the-world banter. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Guilty-pleasure movies should not be underestimated. I had a scary-fun-house blast at Zombieland, in which studly Woody Harrelson, nerdy Jesse Eisenberg, sexy Emma Stone and sunshiny Abigail Breslin roam a near-dead world kicking zombie ass. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
The movie's a ride, basically. It's a slick, funny buddy-flick confection about a dork (Jesse Eisenberg), a Twinkie-loving hick (Harrelson), a hottie (Emma Stone) and a sassy kid (Abigail Breslin) who bicker and bond as they drive cross-country after a zombie plague. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
Zombieland is still the funniest broad comedy since "The Hangover." Its yowling, marching, munching corpses are as scary as grad students and as hilarious as the plot of "G.I. Joe." Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
It's great, gruesome fun, a well-written and fantastically cast romp. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Isn't an especially good horror movie, it succeeds in enough different ways that such a defect hardly matters. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis Harvey
Benefiting from the very different but very appealing comedy styles of Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg even when the script's wit runs thin, this should be catnip to jaded genre fans. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderCliff Doerksen
Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick wring a surprising amount of juice from the familiar premise, and director Ruben Fleischer heaps on the gore without burying their character-based comedy and surprisingly heartfelt moments. This is worth seeing just for the title sequence. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
An improbably delicious comedy. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
The movie isn’t particularly scary--not a crime when your goal is laughs. More egregious is the niggling fact that this simply isn’t as witty as "Shaun of the Dead," forever the yuks-meet-yucks standard. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
The action-comedy Zombieland works because it's played with an emphasis on the living, not the undead. Read full review
50
Village VoiceScott Foundas
Fitfully amusing romp directed with little ambition and even less distinction by first-timer Ruben Fleischer. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Yet, even at its worst, Zombieland is better than most movies of its kind - disgusting but not too disgusting, and with a few laughs. Read full review
50
Washington PostRuth McCann
Zombieland is sometimes funny. But those of us who have teeny coronaries every time something goes bump in Zombieland might have a hard time relaxing for long enough to really enjoy ourselves. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
A minor diversion dripping in splatter and groaning with self-amusement. Read full review
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