“Scouts Guide” fundamentally compromised, but pretty fun all the same.
“Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” was directed by Christopher Landon, and written by Emi Mochizuki, Carrie Evans, Christopher Landon, and Lona Williams. It stars Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, Sarah Dumont, David Koechner, and Halston Sage.
The big zombie craze seems to be finally dying down. For the past half-decade the undead have been an unstoppable pop-cultural force. It seems however, that fatigue is finally setting in. And so Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, the new action-comedy film from Paramount, has arrived a year or two too late to really capitalize on America’s zombie craze.
This is not to say that the film won’t find its audience. In certain aspects, it is undeniably appealing. The whole package is very slick, with a super-polished, of-the-moment, almost music video aesthetic in certain scenes. The music choices are all very modern and cool and danceable. The film also has an extremely clean, digital look, which can often grate, but suits the material here fine.
Scouts Guide is, first and foremost, a high school movie. The plot is a familiar one. Ben, Carter, and Augie have been best friends for years. While Augie still loves being a scout, Ben and Carter are getting ready to quit, fearing the “dork” stigma that the scouts come with. Scout Leader Rogers has a camping trip planned the same night that Ben and Carter are invited to a party, which will be attended by girls that both of them are into. Throw zombies into the mix and you’ve got your movie.
There is a justification for titular zombie apocalypse in the opening scene, featuring a cameo by Blake Anderson of Workaholics fame. Really, the plot justification for the zombie outbreak is besides the point (it sort of always is). The zombies serve as a reason to get our heroes into extreme situations where action and comedy can occur. And it all mostly works. There’s a workmanlike functionality to the screenplay, in that every element that’s supposed to be in a movie like this is indeed present. Details in the first act largely pay off by the third, mostly in the obvious ways.
All of this is to say that Scouts Guide is watchable and pleasant enough. It is fast-paced and enthusiastic throughout. The cast works well, with no real weak link, especially Tye Sheridan, who has a real boy-next-door, non-threatening quality that lends itself to leading a movie like.
The action scenes are light and fun, and there’s never any real sense of danger, despite the R-rated gore. Director Christopher Landon impresses most in his scenes of parties and clubs, the lighting of which is genuinely complex and cool (seriously, this guy would do a mean music video). There’s one particularly impressive scene in a deserted strip club, which is excellent until it devolves into stupidity.
However, the juvenile sensibility present throughout Scouts Guide is impossible to ignore. There are some truly cringe-worthy attempts at comedy that will make everyone in the theater over the age of maybe 17 shake their heads. This film is compromised in that it’s ideal audiences is males from 12-16, and yet it’s rated “R.” The film will more than likely find its audience, whether it be in theaters or on DVD at sleepovers across America.
“Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” hits theaters nationwide October 30.
-Anthony Calamunci
