“ It’s the zombie apocalypse! Come on, we’re scouts! We’re trained for this!”
Being a scout can be pretty useful in some situations, making you popular at your High School is not one of them. I mean sure you are good with knots, and can survive in the wilderness, but can you survive a zombie with a good set of chompers on them? I for one was never a scout when growing up, but feel like I missed out, because I would have loved to receive some badges. Instead I don’t have many survival skills and after seeing this film I acutally question my chances of surviving the zombie apocalypse.
So what is the igniter for a zombie invasion this time around? While a janitor is cleaning at a Bio facility he stumbles upon a guy that doesn’t look very well. It is soon after that discovery that zombies begin to cover a small city in California. Meanwhile Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller) and Augie (Joey Morgan) are preparing for Augie to receive the highest honor a scout can receive. Ben and Carter have other plans, as they want to leave their scout life behind them and try and to be, well cool. On the way to that party, Carter and Ben find their way into a strip club, where they discover things are not right, when a stripper tries to eat them. Soon they are running from a mob of zombies, only to soon discover that what this situation needs, is a few scouts to save the day.
When it comes to zombie movies, there are many ways to go. Most go for the scares, while a few go for the laughs. Both “Shaun of the Dead” and“Zombieland” went for them both, and became a fan favorites pretty quick. The writers of “Scouts Guide” aim for the funny bone, and hit it pretty often. Director Christopher Landon, who also had a hand with the screenplay, knows the tone he wants and hits that target. This film in the simplest of terms, is just fun. You will laugh, you will cry; ok maybe cry from laughter, but either way you get the point. You get the usual design of cool weapons that take care of any zombies that try and attack you, and discover so excellent use for knots when they are needed.
While there is fun to be having with this movie, the film introduces some things that it never seems to follow through on. Add to that, the film doesn’t have a high re-watchable quality about it, and you end up with a just enough enjoyment to last you through the hour and half running time. I enjoyed this film, and had a good time, and that for me is enough. Sure I won’t run out and buy this movie for my collection, but I wouldn’t turn it off if it were on TV. Fun is a good thing to have at the movies and who knows, you might learn something to help you survive that coming zombie apocalypse.
