Zombieland,
(2009) directed by Ruben Fleischer, is a Disaster/Comedy film that follows the
three act structure throughout. Jesse Eisenberg plays the story’s dorky
protagonist; Columbus, who is also
the narrator of the film. While we watch his journey unravel, we also hear his
personal thoughts and perceptions as he tells them along the way.
The ordinary world for Columbus can be considered to be either his life before the apocalypse, or his life during the apocalypse, as when his character is introduced at the start of the film, he has already come to grips with the fact that the world is how it is. In this case, he has been in the apocalypse long enough for it to be the new norm, especially considering his relaxed and calm tone of narration.
It seems probable that the inciting incident is the moment where Columbus first encounters loud, intense zombie hunter Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) on the road. With Tallahassee agreeing to give Columbus a ride, he is now no longer alone, but his mission to head to Ohio and find his family remains to be his personal goal for the story. The incident of meeting Tallahassee changes the fate and path that Columbus will now take, ultimately setting up for everything else that is yet to come.
With the two characters in a grocery store on a dire hunt for Tallahassee’s beloved Twinkies, zombies aren’t the only thing that they stumble upon. They meet two sisters; Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who are in a great deal of distress. After Wichita tells the man that her little sister has been bitten and needs to be shot before she transforms into a zombie, she also convinces them to let her shoot Little Rock instead. After handing her the gun, they are suddenly held at gun point by her and robbed of their belongings and even their vehicle. This early on they are stripped of everything they’ve been using so far, then are abandoned there by the conniving sisters who artfully tricked them. It is at this point where Act 1 has ended, as it is the end of a series of linked events, while it also forces the two men to start again and stop where they were currently at.
After later reuniting with the sisters and travelling alongside them, Columbus suddenly learns that his hometown has been completely destroyed and disaster has flooded the place where his family were. This is his lowest point in the film, as his goal so far that has been pursued since the very beginning has just been crushed. His goal now is ruined, making his aim and personal pursuits something that he himself doesn’t even understand anymore. Although he is still with the other survivors and they’re not in any real threat, internally this breaks the character’s momentum and all hope.
Before the race to the climax, the survivors find themselves in Bill Murray’s mansion, bonding and building relationships while learning more about one another. Columbus begins to catch feelings for Wichita which only grow stronger as their time together passes. At this point in the film, Columbus’ goal changes, which is now for him to have a family in this world. While this seems to be more achievable for him, the sisters have their own goal to make it to Adventureland, a large theme park that will now be empty due to the apocalypse. One morning, Wichita and Little Rock abandon them to go to Adventureland. While Tallahassee is heedless about chasing after them, Columbus makes the decision to go where they’re going in order to be with Wichita and show her how he feels about her. At this point, this is the only goal that seems worth going after for Columbus, but Tallahassee also decides to accompany him on the dangerous task. This point is the race to the climax as things are about to escalate for everyone and danger is imminent for them all, especially when the theme park lights and sounds draw in endless hordes of the undead. But more importantly, the race is more about Columbus chasing after them to rescue them while against the clock.
With Wichita and Little Rock stuck on a ride surrounded by zombies, Tallahassee kills large masses of the undead while making his way around the theme park. Meanwhile, Columbus must also fight zombies while trying to get to the girls. It is the climax here, when he gets to the bottom of the ride and finds his worst fear standing in front of him, blocking his path and challenging his goal; a zombie clown. Stepping up to the fight, Columbus brutalises the zombie and saves both of the girls. Tallahassee also manages to survive after killing the majority of the zombies that they faced. After Columbus kills that last enemy and finally reunites with Wichita, the hardest obstacle has been completed. The climax is at this point in the film, as it is the most escalated part of danger and is the point where Columbus finally overcomes everything that was beating him.
The denouement and end takes place where Tallahassee finally achieves his goal; finding a Twinkie. Is it Little Rock who finds it for him, inevitably rebuilding trust and bringing the characters closer together. Now that all of the characters have completed their personal goals, all they have is each other. Being in a happy place together where they can consider themselves a family, is what Columbus truly hoped for. The film ends after this, after learning that now they can trust each other and work together as a family, leaving a partially open ending, leaving their further fates unknown while also managing to finish what was started in this part of the journey.
The ordinary world for Columbus can be considered to be either his life before the apocalypse, or his life during the apocalypse, as when his character is introduced at the start of the film, he has already come to grips with the fact that the world is how it is. In this case, he has been in the apocalypse long enough for it to be the new norm, especially considering his relaxed and calm tone of narration.
It seems probable that the inciting incident is the moment where Columbus first encounters loud, intense zombie hunter Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) on the road. With Tallahassee agreeing to give Columbus a ride, he is now no longer alone, but his mission to head to Ohio and find his family remains to be his personal goal for the story. The incident of meeting Tallahassee changes the fate and path that Columbus will now take, ultimately setting up for everything else that is yet to come.
With the two characters in a grocery store on a dire hunt for Tallahassee’s beloved Twinkies, zombies aren’t the only thing that they stumble upon. They meet two sisters; Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who are in a great deal of distress. After Wichita tells the man that her little sister has been bitten and needs to be shot before she transforms into a zombie, she also convinces them to let her shoot Little Rock instead. After handing her the gun, they are suddenly held at gun point by her and robbed of their belongings and even their vehicle. This early on they are stripped of everything they’ve been using so far, then are abandoned there by the conniving sisters who artfully tricked them. It is at this point where Act 1 has ended, as it is the end of a series of linked events, while it also forces the two men to start again and stop where they were currently at.
After later reuniting with the sisters and travelling alongside them, Columbus suddenly learns that his hometown has been completely destroyed and disaster has flooded the place where his family were. This is his lowest point in the film, as his goal so far that has been pursued since the very beginning has just been crushed. His goal now is ruined, making his aim and personal pursuits something that he himself doesn’t even understand anymore. Although he is still with the other survivors and they’re not in any real threat, internally this breaks the character’s momentum and all hope.
Before the race to the climax, the survivors find themselves in Bill Murray’s mansion, bonding and building relationships while learning more about one another. Columbus begins to catch feelings for Wichita which only grow stronger as their time together passes. At this point in the film, Columbus’ goal changes, which is now for him to have a family in this world. While this seems to be more achievable for him, the sisters have their own goal to make it to Adventureland, a large theme park that will now be empty due to the apocalypse. One morning, Wichita and Little Rock abandon them to go to Adventureland. While Tallahassee is heedless about chasing after them, Columbus makes the decision to go where they’re going in order to be with Wichita and show her how he feels about her. At this point, this is the only goal that seems worth going after for Columbus, but Tallahassee also decides to accompany him on the dangerous task. This point is the race to the climax as things are about to escalate for everyone and danger is imminent for them all, especially when the theme park lights and sounds draw in endless hordes of the undead. But more importantly, the race is more about Columbus chasing after them to rescue them while against the clock.
With Wichita and Little Rock stuck on a ride surrounded by zombies, Tallahassee kills large masses of the undead while making his way around the theme park. Meanwhile, Columbus must also fight zombies while trying to get to the girls. It is the climax here, when he gets to the bottom of the ride and finds his worst fear standing in front of him, blocking his path and challenging his goal; a zombie clown. Stepping up to the fight, Columbus brutalises the zombie and saves both of the girls. Tallahassee also manages to survive after killing the majority of the zombies that they faced. After Columbus kills that last enemy and finally reunites with Wichita, the hardest obstacle has been completed. The climax is at this point in the film, as it is the most escalated part of danger and is the point where Columbus finally overcomes everything that was beating him.
The denouement and end takes place where Tallahassee finally achieves his goal; finding a Twinkie. Is it Little Rock who finds it for him, inevitably rebuilding trust and bringing the characters closer together. Now that all of the characters have completed their personal goals, all they have is each other. Being in a happy place together where they can consider themselves a family, is what Columbus truly hoped for. The film ends after this, after learning that now they can trust each other and work together as a family, leaving a partially open ending, leaving their further fates unknown while also managing to finish what was started in this part of the journey.
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