So Netflix is out and running hard with their play at original content, nabbing top tier talent (David Fincher, Kevin Spacey, Eli Roth) and/or acclaimed franchises (“Arrested Development,” duh) and more or less making good on their promise of changing the television landscape. Not only has their decision to drop entire seasons at once been a breath of fresh air, the quality of the programming from what we’ve seen so far (okay, just “House Of Cards”) at least suggests the decision to invest in quality has paid off. But what happens when you take the opposite route? Well, you get Amazon‘s “Zombieland.”
The first trailer for the show, kind of spunoff from the hit movie (using the same name and concept, but that’s about it) has dropped and it’s completely tone deaf, and looks like it was shot for $10. Kirk Ward (“The Island”), Maiara Walsh (“Desperate Housewives”), Tyler Ross (“Milkshake”) and newcomer Izabela Vidovic take on the roles originally played by Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin respectively, but have none of their wit or timing. Granted, the lines they are being given here are pretty bad, and perhaps they can only do so much. But it doesn’t help when the sets look thrown together and the FX look like they were created on modest (at best) budget.
But maybe this is just a bad trailer, and the first episode, directed by Eli Craig (“Tucker and Dale vs. Evil”), works better than we think. Well, you can find out for free by checking it out right here. [Vulture]