Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of 2009’s Zombieland, I understood its appeal. It’s a flashy, stylish, and fairly broad comedic take on the zombie genre, which was reaching a peak in entertainment at that point in time. It also didn’t hurt having a few rising stars take center stage, which certainly paid off as most of the cast has went on to do bigger, better things. After a long delayed attempt at getting a sequel made, plus one failed TV pilot, we now have Zombieland: Double Tap, which not only sees the return of the cast, but also the creative team of the original – director, Ruben Fleischer, and writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who are also joined by co-writer, David Callaham, this time around.
Following a decade after the events of the first film, things seem great for our characters Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). However, Little Rock, who is in her late teens now, is desperate to have a life of her own, especially given how overbearing Tallahassee can be as a father figure. Along with that, Wichita is spooked by Columbus’ sudden proposal, fearing what could happen if she allows herself to get too attached.
So, the sisters leave. Tallahassee and Columbus struggle adjusting for a bit, but some liveliness is brought to their lives when they bump into another survivor, Madison (Zoey Deutch), who develops a romantic interest in Columbus. Things are soon changed when Wichita returns, and tells everyone that Little Rock ran away with a boy, and the crew decide to leave their hideout, and go on a search for Little Rock out in the zombie apocalypse, which is only growing in danger due to a newly evolved super zombie.
The best thing I can say about this is that the time between films isn’t really felt at all. I don’t mean that in a story sense, after all Breslin isn’t so small anymore, but it’s in the energy. Many sequels, especially for comedies, that come out far too long after their predecessor, often fail to capture the spark that made their original work so special. The strength of Zombieland was always the cast, and the cast is still great. There’s a sense that they’re all having fun doing this; no one’s acting like they’re only doing this out of obligation or an easy paycheck, even if that might be the case. Everyone is game, and it gives the film the kind of energy that would’ve felt just as similar if this was only a few years after the first film.
The film is structured very similarly to the original. It often gives a strong impression of having numerous vignettes loosely stitched together by a narrative that gets our characters from one sequence to another. As a result, it does feel like more of the same. The addition of the new zombie doesn’t seem to pose as big a threat as the characters keep going on about. The new characters that we meet along the way are fairly amusing. Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch show up as two survivors who share a bizarre similarity in mannerisms with Tallahassee and Columbus, which is a cute scene, even if a similar one was also done in Shaun Of The Dead. The big scene stealer for me was Deutch, who really should be a much bigger star than she currently is. Her character is very much the regressive dumb blonde stereotype, but she goes to such an extreme with her voice, her body lanuage, it’s a joy to behold, even if she does a too good a job at being annoying sometimes.
There’s not much else going on in Zombieland: Double Tap. It’s a very straightforward sequel that doesn’t steer particularly far from what audiences are familiar with, and while that can be frustrating, I’m sure it will appeal to those who have been waiting to see another adventure with these characters. It’s notions about finding one’s family, and making the best out of a bad situation with people you love and trust is done a bit too broadly to really make much of an impact, but the attempt is surely appreciated. I was shocked to find out that South Korean cinematographer, Chung-hoon Chung, was the cinematographer of this. He does a fine job of recapturing the slick look of the original, but not much else. It’s a perfectly fine and serviceable comedy with a handful of solid jokes and gags, elevated by its cast, and thankfully doesn’t overstay its welcome with a brisk 93 minute runtime. If this was something you’ve been wanting for the past decade, this is probably as good as it was ever gonna get.