Zombieland: Double Tap Is A Flawed Yet Worthy Sequel To It's Predecessor

     The 2019 Halloween movie season has officially arrived with the release of the much-anticipated sequel to the cult classic Zombieland titled Zombieland: Double Tap. What ended up being a film ten
years in the making has finally arrived in theaters with all of the main key players from the first movie returning in their respective roles. The first Zombieland was not only a surprise hit but temporarily became the highest grossing zombie film of all time until 2013's World War Z came long. Zombieland's success came at a time when the zombie craze was at its peak (Zombieland's release came a year before AMC's The Walking Dead premiered on TV). Talks of a sequel arrived before the first film was released with the main squad interested in doing it, but the project ended up landing in development hell for 8 years before finally getting the greenlight to produce in July 2018 with original director Ruben Fleischer returning (Zombieland marked the filmmakers first directorial duty). The first Zombieland was a fun zombie adventure, which made for a wild yet entertaining good time for audiences to enjoy along with a fun cast of appealing actors and numerous pop culture references that appealed to young audiences. The film was not only hilarious to watch with its wicked humor but packed on large yet appropriate amounts of gore, making it the ideal Zombie flick that showed audiences there's still plenty of life left in the subgenre. With Zombieland: Double Tap, the sequel brings much of the same humor and gore that the first film carried as well as a ton of fun pop culture references. While the sequel doesn't feel as fresh as its predecessor and ultimately pales in comparison as a whole, it still has plenty of entertainment value to offer in regards to pleasing the first films fans while being a reasonably decent sequel.

      Zombieland: Double Tap's plot takes place a full decade after the events of the first movie with the surviving 4-person intrepid band Columbus (Played by Jesse Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Played by Woody Harrelsen), Wichita (Played by Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Played by Abigail Breslin), find themselves moving to the American heartland while facing off against more advanced zombies, as well as encountering fellow survivors, and struggling to remain a group and being there for each other when situations arise. The most important element of maintaining the success of the first Zombieland with the sequel, is not to take itself too seriously and maintain the same style of fun and mayhem the original offered while managing to still be surprising and show the fans where these characters ended up after the events of the previous film. One of the key things that made the original Zombieland a hit with audiences was not just that it was gory and centered it's story around zombies, it had cool and slick characters that the fans grew to care about and wanted to experience their journey no matter how wild and silly things got. The first movie knew what it was as well as how to have fun with it's concept and fully embraced it, while adding something fresh to the zombie genre. The sequel doesn't try to eliminate any of the key ingredients of what made the first one so successful, and even gives audiences more while picking up where they last left off with the band. The sequels main issue is despite giving audiences more of what they enjoyed about the first film, there isn't much of an effort to really take the story outside of the originals comfort zone and be more creative with the plot. The spirit of the original film is present here as well as some of its heart, but the sequel as entertaining and fun as it can be, ultimately feels like more of the same. Given that audiences waited a full decade to be reunited with these characters again and continue their story, one wishes their characters had a better plot to play with.

      As far as the films acting goes, the squad stands as being the main highlight of the film largely thanks to the performances and the chemistry the four main actors share on screen together. Everyone brings their A game back to their roles and deliver stellar jobs reprising them, ultimately making the audience feel that no time has passed between both movies practically. The same kind of energy and passion for playing these characters are once again conveyed by the actors and put on the screen. Jesse Eisenberg is once again as sharp as ever as the chatty yet somewhat whimpy Columbus, once again making audiences get a kick out of his characters commentary in terms of narrating the story as well as making them empathize with his character arc in this sequel. Emma Stone is once again charming and fun to watch as Wichita, audiences will take interest in seeing where her relationship with Columbus has led after the ending of the previous film. Given that since starring in the first film, Stone has become an Oscar winning actress, which makes her return to this type of film even more humbling as she easily could've turned it down to do more dramatic parts, yet looks like she's having a ball here along with the rest of the main cast. Abigail Breslin though older, still manages to shine as Wichita's sister Little Rock, making her character motives in this film feel relatable, believable, and foolish given the circumstances of the world surrounding the main characters. Woody Harrelson once again delivers the best performance out of the pack as he brings the character of Tallahassee back to life, and steals the show with his cool and authoritative approach to the character. He really does give the character of Han Solo type of persona in the sense that his character comes across as being unlikable at first much like Solo did, but deep down within his tough guy persona, he possesses a good heart as his character demonstrates both his loyalty and friendship through his actions in regards to looking after his friends as well as acting like a father figure to Little Rock. Harrelson is perfect in this role as one can't see anyone else playing this part so well and giving it the same type of charm and charisma he delivers to it. Other strong supporting roles are Rosario Dawson playing a kick-ass yet likable female character and love interest to Tallahassee, Luke Wilson, Avan Jogia, and Zoey Deutch with them all proving to be both nice and worthy additions to the cast ultimately. Zoey Deutch ends up stealing the show as Madison with her character coming across as being hilarious as the stereotypical dumb blonde in a horror movie/zombie apocalypse story. The supporting cast goes a long way with adding charm, brains, and energy to the film, especially the movies middle portion and saving it when the script begins to dry up. The cast as a whole feels well put together with the newer actors managing to share chemistry with the main cast, while making the experience even more fun and absurd.

      In terms of the films directing, Ruben Fleischer returns to the directing chair and delivers the same style of mayhem mixed with comedy he gave the first one with a healthy dose of gore. Watching the sequel however, it feels as if he directed the film to not just be a sequel to the first Zombieland, but also feel like a reunion tour with the original characters in a sense. Whereas the first film represented Fleischer's debut as a director, Double Tap shows that the filmmaker has more experience under his belt as his direction feels more focused, and is given a larger budget to play with. The films tongue-in-cheek humor still remains sharp with the action sequences being well shot and remaining wildly-over-the-top, especially with the larger budget this time around. Fleischer's directing feels like he's going through a checklist of all the essential things, that made the first film a hit and makes sure to include them along with double the fun and gore. Like the first Zombieland, he keeps the story grounded with the main focus being the main characters and their story arcs. When newer characters enter the picture, they are treated as a welcomed surprise, providing a breath of fresh air to the film. The films cinematography and make up effects remain impressive with the pacing being well done, keeping the story moving steadily for the films 99-minute running time.

      While the films directing and performances remain some of the films strongest aspects, the scriptwriting by Dave Callaham, Rhett Reese, and Paul Wernick falls within the category of being decent, but can be criticized for largely playing it safe with the overall story structure. Given that the film took a full ten years to make, couldn't the writers find a more engaging story to take the main characters rather than just having them move into the White House? One of the screenplays strongest points is giving more depth to the main characters, their subplots help to breathe life into a plot that stays pretty close to the original. Not all the subplots work to their full potential with the subplot involving Columbus and Wichita's relationship being touching, though not as explored as it could've been as the subplot is abandoned at certain points throughout the film and reappears whenever convenient for the storyline. The problem with Zombieland: Double Taps script is similar to the same issue The Walking Dead TV show has in which the characters actions and subplots all feel too familiar to the point where everything comes across as being repetitive. The introduction of the newer characters in the films middle section does give the film a dose of originality, that's desperately needed when things begin to feel all too familiar. Being that the film itself is a sequel, the inclusion of many pop culture references to both The Walking Dead and Terminator 2: Judgment Day including the naming of the new breed of zombie, that immediately comes back to life after being killed in a form of the T-100, the T-800 is a clever and hilarious twist. The decision to make the zombies more deadlier and harder to kill in the sequel is clever and helps to make the the world of Zombieland remain exciting and not feel boring. It's moments like the ones with the "Terminator" zombies and ones where side characters look as if they're about to transform into zombies themselves when they randomly start puking, that add some much needed tension to the story. One of the key issues with the script besides too closely mirroring the first films plot, is the lack of something major happening in the story up until the third act, even then the movie lacks the big wow moment that stands out in a traditional zombie film like this. While Double Tap never comes across as being a boring film and overall serves as being a genuinely fun ride, its glaring flaw is that its too close to it's predecessor in terms of having similar narrative structures and being nearly identical. If it was the writers and directors wish to give audiences more of what they loved about the first film rather than change things up and do more with the story, then what is the point of making a sequel if they're too afraid to take risks and ultimately choose to play it safe.

      Overall Zombieland: Double Tap is not a bad film and actually serves as being a decent sequel to the first movie, one can't help but question what was the point of waiting a decade to make this film if the filmmakers intended to keep it as closely mirroring the first film as possible. There's not enough risks that are taken with this film, and the plot doesn't really evolve beyond the band finding another area to camp at and share subplots containing melodrama. The jokes are still fresh and make the audience laugh such as Eisenberg and Harrelsens characters coming across other side characters, that share both personalities and looks that closely resemble their own,or moments such as Harrelsens characters dressing up as Elvis (Which alone is almost worth the price of admission). The moments where the humor does struggle is forced jokes such as one in which one of the side characters pushes the idea of group sex. Despite the films numerous issues, the pros outweigh the cons with the films slick directing, numerous pokes at both the zombie genre as well as it's pop culture references, and the charismatic performances the main cast bring to their characters still manage to make this a worthwhile sequel. that will largely entertain fans of the original while leaving the door open for a third film. One hopes if they choose to make a third movie that they don't wait another full decade to produce another, and they have a stronger script, which allows the story to grow and place the band in a more interesting scenario. Zombieland: Double Tap isn't as fresh nor as creative as the original, but it has enough of what fans enjoyed about that film to make it a worthy follow-up. The film still makes you care about the characters and their adventures, and given that it's a post-apocalyptic world full of zombies, that's what matters the most in terms of making the sequel work.

Final Verdict: For fans of the first Zombieland, the sequel is worth a watch though it carries with it it's share of sizable flaws.