Rating: MM+

Review of black comedy-horror Jennifer’s Body, written by Oscar winning Diablo Cody, writer of 2007 indie hit Juno.

Director: Karyn Kusama
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, J.K. Simmons, Adam Brody, Johnny Simmons, Kyle Gallner
Running time: 102 mins

Following her excellent, zippy script for Juno in 2007, great things are expected from writer Diablo Cody’s follow up effort, black comedy horror Jennifer’s Body. The result, instead of being a film balanced between edgy intelligent comedy and neat horror shocks is a mediocre film that is neither really scary nor really funny. The script lacks the energy and spark of Cody’s debut, and while there are lines that are genuinely witty these are few and far between.

The film centres on Needy (Amanda Seyfried), best friend of the Jennifer of the title (played by babe du jour Megan Fox) who comes to realise that her sometime promiscuous gal-pal is not all she seems and that she has in fact become a literal man-eater. However, the premise on which Jennifer’s demonic transformation is based is so ludicrous and laughable that it makes a mockery of the whole film – despite the film not taking itself too seriously the nature of the ‘satanic ritual’ is too far fetched to be in any way credible. There are moments of comedy in certain lines of dialogue, but there are more laughs to be had at the expense of the film itself. In terms of horror and scares, these are few and far between, with only a couple of scenes providing any atmosphere and tension. When the gore comes it is relatively tame, something of a surprise not only in light of the way the film has been marketed, but from Cody’s own love of horror films – this is certainly to the detriment of the film, as one feels there is there is potential for some great scares.

As Needy, Amanda Seyfried is a sympathetic and likeable character in a long-suffering role who is punished by Jennifer both socially and romantically. Megan Fox on the other hand is lacklustre, merely doing all that is required of her – looking sexy and attractive in skimpy outfits and baring flesh when swimming across a placid lake. She fulfils the teenage boy’s fantasy image of a sex-bomb body but adds nothing to the film in terms of acting talent. Likewise, Adam Brody (Seth Cohen from TV’s The O.C.) is neither sinister or menacing enough to be credible, but a bizarre character involved in an even more bizarre premise. However, the casting of J.K. Simmons as a class teacher is one of the film’s trump cards, adding a cool and charming element to the film’s characterisation. In interviews, Cody has explained that Jennifer is meant to be an alpha female riddled with insecurities, something the film fails to fully explore. She seems ditsy and vapid, and not nearly as scheming and manipulative as the film aims to suggest.

Jennifer’s Body tries to be an intelligent darkly comic horror but simply fails to deliver. Underwhelming stuff from a writer of Cody’s calibre.

Rating: MM+

Rating: MMMM

Review of the hilarious and frightfully entertaining black-comedy road movie adventure, Zombieland.

Director: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Running time: 88 mins

In the fictional America of Ruben Fleischer’s debut flick Zombieland, a terrible virus has infected the entire population, bringing about the zombie apocalypse. In the midst of the carnage remain only a handful of anonymous survivors, each adopting the moniker of the towns and cities they are aiming to reach in their attempt to cross the wastelands of America: geeky teen Jesse Eisenberg is Columbus, Woody Harrelson is the hard-as-nails Tallahassee while Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin are sisters Wichita and Little Rock. The film is essentially a road movie with a twist, that the road ahead is peppered with danger in the form of the walking undead (which don’t actually feature that heavily for a ‘zombie film’).

Eisenberg’s Columbus takes the lead role, as a nerdy loner who develops his own code of conduct for surviving – these rules flash up throughout the film as neat little intertitles, adding to the cool charm of the film – one of the rules is “limber up” and as Eisenberg stretches and prepares himself, so do the titles. His performance is very good, further cementing himself as a talent to watch, although he must take active precautions not to be typecast as the nervous good-hearted teen as has similarly befallen Michael Cera of Juno and Superbad fame. As the crazed weapon-happy Tallahassee, Woody Harrelson is fabulous, balancing excellent comic timing with kick-ass energy and carving a surprisingly developed role from a fairly two-dimensional character.  However, director Ruben Fleischer sells Abigail Breslin short of a great role, giving her not a lot to do except play the sassy and cute sidekick to Emma Stone’s big sister.

Zombieland excels at what it does – it is wildly entertaining, funny, charming, intelligent and pleasingly warm and hopeful. The black comedy moments are executed with panache, the dialogue is witty and clever and though purists may argue that the gore factor is relatively low (the film is rated 15), there is enough crawling flesh, violence and occasional shocks to satisfy those in want of high quality comic horror. Fellow zombie comedy-horror Shaun of the Dead may be more intelligent and have an enormous cult following, but Zombieland is arguably funnier, warmer and vastly more enjoyable. With a film this accomplished, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Ruben Fleischer had been making films for years – this is his debut feature but you’d never know. Even the soundtrack is suitably awesome, with the film’s punchy and stylish opening credits rolling along to the killer strains of Metallica’s ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’. Let us hope and pray that a filmmaker this promising indeed marches on.

With its hilarious antics, deliciously violent horror set-pieces, moments of genuine pathos and a cameo that is just too brilliant to be revealed, Zombieland is the perfect popcorn film. It may not be profound, but it is damn good.

Rating: MMMM