Zombieland (B-)

(Rated R for ongoing profanity & gory violence, some brief partial nudity):  In a nutshell, it's a teenager's dream fantasy.  Youthful writers Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick along with first-time director Ruben Fleischer ride in on the coattails of earlier take-offs on the zombie horror flicks, from those made in Australia to the not too distant "Shaun of the Dead" and any of George Romero's flesh chewing demons which barely bordered on self chiding.

All of the above are richer, far more  inventive than this version - which has a few howling laughs that cater to the "with it" teens, but spreads them sparingly and all too briefly to make this as fulfilling as it ought to be for the rest of us..

The horror aspects refers to - as usual - a world overrun with the living dead and a handful of people not yet infested, on the run.  There is Columbus as narrator (Jesse Eisenberg as the teen hero with the kind of looks & voice that suggest a certain amount of innocence - the kind that draws in young girls, and that young fellows will easily identify with for his vulnerability; on the run, in easy leaps from danger) who introduces us to the situation and the other characters (all of whom bear the names of the cities from which they came):  Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson, with a comic variation on the evil character in "Natural Born Killers") and a pair of conniving sisters who rely on pragmatic methods to stay alive (Wichita, played by Emma Stone & Little Rock by Agigail Breslin).

The four band together & armed with rifles, pistols, etc., head for a West Coast amusement park which the girls feel is a safe haven.  After a trip through one near clash with the zombies after another - and a sort of riotous but unnecessary adventure with an unidentified comic actor in his Hollywood mansion.  Finally, they wind up at the amusement park where all hell breaks loose amid the clutter and brightly lit glitz - oh, and after a nice little  formulaic romance between Columbus & Wichita that you see coming within minutes of their original meeting.

The dialog - sometimes originally witty, most often a series of tongue-in-cheek clichés - and the casual slaughter of zombies (in every possible manner), the sight gags (wreaking unbelievable carnage), & the over-the-top quirkiness (Tallahassee's insatiable desire for Twinkies) are all suited to the teen audiences that are packing the theatres - plenty of nervy in-your-face action.  No skimping at any time, the wild action piles on like whipped cream on pie a la mode. 

The cast gleefully runs off with that sort of  humor with Fleischer directing with all-or-nothing abandonment, keeping to a tidy 80-minutes as just enough before the gimmicks wear thin.  (Grade: B-)