I saw Zombieland for the second time tonight, and I have to say it is probably the best movie I've seen all year. Well, maybe it ties with Watchmen.

Any who, it is just a great movie through and through providing a genuine brand of entertainment that strikes a near perfect balance of comedy, action and heart.

I won't go into too many details so as not to spoil it for you sad folks who have yet to see the film. Let it suffice to say that it takes the idea of the zombie movie and exploits the concept just the way it should be. The zombies aren't in any way the focal point of the film, they are simply used as a device to set up the characters for the journey they embark upon. They're still a big part of the movie, but the living are far more important to Zombieland. The interactions of the characters are what provide the film with its substance, be it humor, excitement or even genuine emotion.

It's this embracing of people that I think is the truest source of the best zombie flicks' greatness. The Night of the Living Dead, still the coup de grace of undead film in my opinion, is less about the undead hordes besieging the cast and more about the struggles of the people as they try to survive the crisis. If I respect George Romero's work for one reason it's that this is something he embraces through almost all of his films (we'll try to forget Land of the Dead). Zombies only serve to set the scene. People are what matters.

One of Romero's greatest weakness I think though is that his films often come off as openly preachy. Dawn of the Dead was clearly about consumerism. Day of the Dead is almost over-the-top anti-military and the most recent entry, Diary of the Dead is so blatant in its negative depiction of modern focus on technology that it all but throws out the idea of subtletety.

Zombieland, much like Shaun of the Dead before it has a message, but it is embedded in layers of entertainment so that the film itself is enjoyable whether or not you're viewing through a philosophical lens.

In short, go see Zombieland. It's great.