Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse

This review may contain spoilers!

This'll be a strange review because the things I dislike about it are also strangely aspects I liked; suffice it to say it's one outrageous comedy. I would give Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse a 6.5/10.

One of the greatest things about this film is that it doesn't take itself seriously, it takes this ridiculous notion of boy scouts fighting the zombie apocalypse and just runs with it. You get a strange mixture of comedy within the film, there are certainly dirty jokes but then there is some really clever humour here too; most of the time the comedy lands quite well. I was hooked throughout this film and found myself enjoying it the entire time it played out, it really is just paced incredibly well. The editing in this movie is really well done, the cutting aids the speed that this film progresses really well. I feel like the soundtrack and score makes this film; opening the movie with the lip synch of 'Black Widow' by Iggy Azalea as well as Miller, Morgan and Droege singing Britney Spears' '...Baby One More Time' were some of the highlights of the film.

Joey Morgan, who played Augie, is an incredibly likeable character in this film; He brought out the best of the more dramatic elements of the plot. Sarah Dumont, who played Denise, may have an awkwardly written character but she plays it exceptionally well; Dumont is easily the most badass in this film and is thoroughly enjoyable to watch. David Koechner, who played Scout Leader Rogers, isn't as enjoyable as a zombie but in his scenes leading up to this he absolutely gave an incredible comedic performance; the neverending optimism of his role combined with the fantastic zombie deer takedown were some great displays of acting. Blake Anderson, who played Ron the Janitor, made the start of this film; frankly he was close to being the best part of this film as he really hooked me from the beginning.

However the best performance came from Logan Miller, who played Carter. Miller immediately nails the crude, cocky arrogance that the role demands which makes him such an entertaining presence in this film. Furthermore Miller is hysterical, he lands jokes constantly and knows how to make the best of a scene. Frankly I hope to see Miller in a lot more after this film because he really excelled in a leading role.

Right now to clarify what I meant by the good things are also the bad things, starting with the plot. While it's great that the plot didn't take itself seriously it was really frustrating to see lazy writing in which the characters miraculously gained a sudden advantage out of nowhere; for example when the bomb at the end of the film appeared it resulted in a great scene but justifying a sudden bomb isn't really possible. Beyond this the comedy in this film is really crude, you get dick jokes and sexual humour that sometimes are more cringeworthy than funny. The cinematography in this film isn't really anything special, it starts out with a lot of potential but quickly falls into showing a lot of simplistic shots. I also really didn't like how obvious special effects were in this film, bad enough they didn't look real but actors weren't reacting properly to where the effects were actually taking place.

Tye Sheridan, who played Ben, is not a leading actor; watching this kid attempt to give inspiring speeches or lead this film in any way was really hard because he just didn't have the presence to pull this off. Halston Sage, who played Kendall Grant, was just there to create a romance subplot and it felt so redundant; you didn't believe her and Sheridan should be romantically involved in fact this subplot just felt awkwardly executed. Cloris Leachman, who played Miss Fielder, has no screen presence in this film; but if you want to see an Academy Award winner attempt to bite someone's butt (I wish I was kidding) then you might enjoy watching her. Niki Koss and Patrick Schwarzenegger, who played Chloe and Jeff respectively, are the stereotypical bully antagonists of a film where teenagers are the leads; they're not original and they certainly don't give original performances. Drew Droege, who played Drunk Man, gives a really fake performance in this film; it's like he struggles to act because I literally felt like I was watching him acting.