written by Justin Prince (@prince_justin)

They ride again! It’s been 10 long years since the first Zombieland graced the silver screen. In the time since we’ve seen a whole slew of films come and go, the MCU was just barely starting and in those 10 years we’ve seen some amazing films come and go… it was a very different time for popcorn cinema. But the first Zombieland hit a sweet spot melding the gratuitous violence of zombie fiction and spot on humor… a combination not seen since the immaculate Shaun of the Dead.

So with Zombieland Double Tap, the big questions here are… does it do justice to the first film and was it a fun romp? While the answer to the first question is a little complicated, I can at least unanimously say a big freaking hell yes to the second.

Bringing back our four zombie slaying heroes; Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Several years have passed since the first film’s events, set to find a place to call home, this unlikely family opens Double Tap up by clearing out and making themselves at home in the White House… in Zombieland, anything goes right? Of course, it wouldn’t be a movie if happily ever after was within the first 15 minutes. Wichita still has her aversion to commitment and Little Rock has begun to come into her own as a woman… which doesn’t help that Tallahassee has always treated her like a little girl, that father figure mentality I suppose. When Little Rock runs away with peace loving hippie Berkley (Avan Jogia) the trio heads off to find her with newcomer Madison (Zoey Deutch) in tow.

So, back to my original question here. Does Zombieland Double Tap live up to being a worthwhile follow-up to Zombieland? The short answer is… yes, it’s a fun follow-up too the original. Much of what made the first so much fun is here… the floating text, the emphasis on the rules, characters who are all unique caricatures, and some amazing special effects. But also, a lot of it felt rehashed. One such scene that was obvious was a scene when Columbus was running from a zombie and he says “don’t swing” to Tallahassee, then when Columbus slides under he directs him to swing… only this time the zombie chasing Columbus dives under… dodging Tallahassee. It’s different enough, but at the same time it’s one of many obvious callbacks.

While the narrative had to jump several years into the future, I feel like the content is stuck firmly in 2009. So much of this movie felt like callbacks with a different coat of paint. While the type of humor harkens back to the 2009 picture, much of it felt empty and at times forced. Not saying it was a bad movie, hardly… Double Tap does its job by delivering a fun zombie romp with a cast of likable characters. Aside from obviously being older, not much has really evolved here. The brightest point I feel has to be how Zoey Deutch played the air headed but well-meaning Madison. She was obviously a caricature of a badly told dumb blonde joke, but she brought some fresh comedy to what feels like rehashing the success of the first picture.

At the end of the day, I suppose the second question I posed at the start of this review holds just as much weight as the first. While it somewhat does justice to the first film, the reliance on callback jokes and the lack of character development for any of the main four is a bit of a bummer… yet I still had a good ol time. Zombieland Double Tap is a satisfying sequel that doesn’t quite live up to the first one. Maybe we can chalk it up to sequelitis… maybe we can chalk it up to lazy writing… either way, it was fun and that’s just as important in my book.

C+

Not perfect… but perfectly fun!