Zombieland: Double Tap

So forgive the pun, but I am a DEAD-icated fan of the 2009 original film.  With that said, I didn’t need a sequel 10 years later but here we are.  I’m happy to report it’s a funny and well-paced tale.  Director Ruben Fleischer (Venom) returns along with the same screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Deadpool).  Writer Dave Callaham is a new addition.  The script doesn’t overcomplicate things.  Zombies are still on the loose and our four protagonists are back to fight them.  Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone) all go by the cities where they’re from.  Those aren’t their actual names.  Getting too attached to people in this society is not encouraged.  Death by zombies is a serious reality.

Zombieland 2 Double Tap is an entertaining road movie about a family of sorts.  Little Rock isn’t a child anymore.  An adolescent often needs to rebel against a father figure.    She leaves the nest, so to speak, and meets up with a hippie/stoner/pacifist named Berkeley (Avan Jogia).  The others go out on the road in search of her.  That’s when the adventure starts to get interesting.  Along the way, they meet a blonde airhead named Madison.  Actress Zoey Deutch (Everybody Wants Some!!) is the MVP of this production.   How Madison has managed to survive in this post-apocalyptic wasteland is nothing short of a miracle.  Deutch is absolutely hilarious.  She steals every scene in which she appears.  No small feat given the caliber of talent assembled here.  These 4 stars have 8 Oscar nominations between them.  Emma Stone (La La Land) has actually won.

Our heroes have truly perfected their zombie-killing methods.  Over the years, walking corpses have evolved.   They’ve divided these monsters into different types by giving them humorous code names.  Brief vignettes detail the “zombie kills of the year” and each interlude is good for a few chuckles.  Columbus’ strict rules for survival frequently pop up like huge letters that take up space in the physical world to emphasize their importance.  In fact, a double-tap shooting technique is the most effective way to kill the undead.  However, I’ve also got a cinematic rule of my own.  Projectile vomiting is never okay.  This movie unfortunately breaks that rule.

Like its predecessor, Zombieland: Double Tap is a comedy first and a horror movie….well it really isn’t very scary at all.  Although it is incredibly violent.  Zombies are shot within point-blank range over and over.  The nonstop slaughter feels like a first-person-shooter video game in a comedic vein.  That flippant attitude pervades the adventure.  The playfulness helps to both lighten the mood as well as make the entire endeavor feel like a frivolous exercise.  These friends live at the White House, go to Graceland in one segment, meet their doppelgangers in another.  It’s all so very random – a series of gags that have been assembled together to make a feature.  Yet the dialogue-heavy screenplay has a lot of bright banter that truly elevates this clever zombie satire.  The conflict amongst this amiable extended family is far more engaging than any of the altercations with faceless ghouls.   As a compelling story the narrative is lacking, but as an afternoon diversion to make you laugh the production is quite successful.  Yes, this sequel is completely unnecessary but that doesn’t mean it’s not an enjoyable comedy.   I laughed out loud…a lot.

10-17-19