Some laughs and good scares can be found in this otherwise so-so horror comedy.
By Gregg Katzman
From George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead to Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, zombies – reanimated corpses who want nothing more than to eat soft and squishy living humans – have shuffled their way into popular culture. We’ve seen everything from over-the-top gore-fests to bleak, character-driven stories involving the hungry waves of the undead. Some movies have even turned the zombie apocalypse – which is a seriously horrifying scenario – into hilarious comedies. Now, director Christopher Landon’s Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is the latest film attempting to have fun with swarms of flesh-eating corpses.
As you can tell by the title, this one’s all about a group of scouts who find themselves right in the middle of a zombie outbreak. Three high schoolers — Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller), and Augie (Joey Morgan) — are on a camping trip to celebrate Augie getting his latest patch. Even though Augie is passionate about being a scout, Ben and Carter really want to quit, and once Augie falls asleep, they’re going to sneak away so they can check out the seniors’ party – a party which is, of course, way more elaborate than like, 99.9% of actual high school parties. As Ben and Carter drive away and Augie’s left on his own, their townsfolk are rapidly turned into zombies. It’s not long before the duo bumps into Denise (Sarah Dumont), a cocktail waitress at a strip club who’s also a badass with a shotgun, and they all attempt to save everyone who’s left alive from the zombies.
We want to hear it.
Thanks to a cameo by the energetic Blake Anderson, Workaholics fans should be happy with a decent amount of the opening scene. Tye Sheridan, a.k.a. young Cyclops in the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse, and Sarah Dumont do a fine job with the material they have, but it’s Joey Morgan who gives the most memorable performance. He’s believably well-meaning as he’s enthusiastic about being a scout – the thing his two friends are seemingly embarrassed of. He’s a mostly lovable character, so if you’re thinking one of the lead characters is going to die at some point, the odds are pretty good you’ll keep hoping that it won’t be him. It’s too bad they use Augie for some unoriginal fart and poop jokes, but he handles it amusingly enough, and it’s countered by pretty much everything else he does. Oh, and the noises he makes while running just may remind Futurama fans of Zoidberg.
Carter is the kind of guy who cares about two things: girls and trying to be popular. You’ve seen this type of high school character a million times before – and you probably know a few from your own experiences in school. Since Ben’s a legitimately good dude and Augie’s the very innocent one, this leaves a lot of the dirty and vulgar comments to Carter. You know, stuff like saying an old lady who lives alone with a bunch of cats probably finds a way to… well, get it on with them.
Unfortunately, a good amount of Carter’s jokes don’t come off as clever – just crude. There’s plenty of movies that can unleash countless lowbrow jokes, but they also find a way to make it feel creative and witty, and that’s what’s so important when you’re going for that kind of humor. Here, that really isn’t the case. Obviously, humor is subjective and some of you will probably love his one-liners – I could see myself enjoying them more back when I was in high school or early college, and it seems like that’s the demographic this movie is going for. It’s just too bad these jokes probably won’t hold up for people who aren’t in that age range. Even though the character didn’t make me laugh very often, the movie thankfully avoided turning him into a completely unlikable and obnoxious person, so there’s that.
We want to hear it.
There’s some entertaining gags with the zombies (I can’t help but find a zombie wearing a “yolo” shirt amusing), but there’s also some major leaps in logic and inconsistencies with the decaying creatures, too. Sometimes zombies act like ninjas (stealth zombies are a truly frightening thing, people) or show significant signs of their humanity, and other times they’re standard zombies. Or the person using the weapon with the least amount of ammo seems to have turned on an unlimited ammo cheat. In the end, it’s obvious the movie’s focused on delivering quick laughs, gore, and jump scares – not logical developments and consistency. Sometimes, it does succeed with its jump scares and there’s at least two graphic parts that’ll make people cringe, but there’s also quite a few times where you’ll see the scare coming a mile away.
The overall story really is all kinds of standard. Of course no one is going into this movie expecting a brilliant and emotional story, but everything from the drama between the three friends to the outcome just isn’t original. Even though some of the characters are likable, the predictable beats don’t make this one as engaging as it could have been. There’s a decent message about valuing your true friends, but getting emotionally attached to the movie just isn’t likely.
We want to hear it.
Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland are great examples of zombie comedies that not only bring thrills and laughs, but also a story that’s gripping and it gets you to really care about everyone involved. Sure, there are some surprises in Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, but they’re only in the form of some pretty amusing jump scares – not directions with the characters or the way the overall story plays out.
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is ridiculously juvenile. We’re talking about a movie where a zombie’s penis and another zombie’s boobs could probably receive credit on the movie’s IMDB page. There’s some fun and silly moments in here, but the crass and predictable material does tend to overshadow the clever stuff. The end result is an okay movie that has some decent scares and a few good laughs.
