Zombieland: Double Tap

The whole gang is back for this belated sequel to 2009’s surprise zom-com hit. Despite the 10-year gap, Double Tap (a throwback to the rules from the first film, as well as a sequel-based pun) surprisingly still manages to recapture the humour and heart (and blood-splattered guts) that made the first film so enjoyable.

Premise: Set 10 years after the end of the first film, the makeshift family of misfits begins to fracture, as Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) and Wichita (Emma Stone) find themselves in a relationship rut, and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) feels stifled by Tallahassee’s (Woody Harrelson) over-protective parenting. But when Little Rock runs away after having had enough of always being treated like a child (at the age of 22), the family go on a zombie-infested cross-country search to find her.

Review:

It’s easy to forget that the first Zombieland pre-dates most of the recent swathe of zombie-related shows and films. Sure, Shawn of the Dead and Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake came out in 2004, but The Walking Dead and its many, many imitators and spin-offs didn’t air until 2010 onwards. My point being, there’s a lot more competition in terms of zombie-based entertainment now than there was back in 2009, which is something that Zombieland: Double Tap slyly acknowledges in a couple of early scenes.

Perhaps because of this, Double Tap doesn’t try to “out-do” The Walking Dead (or anything else) in terms of its zombie action, and instead doubles-down on what sets it apart from the rest of the competition – its comedy and its characters. Since starring in the 2009 original, Emma Stone has been nominated for three Oscars (and won for La La Land), Woody Harrelson has had two Oscar nominations, Jesse Eisenberg has received an Oscar nomination, and Abigail Breslin, who was already an Oscar-nominated actress, also became a Screen Actors Guild nominee. It’s fair to say that none of them needed to come back to this film franchise, but that fact that they were all so keen to do so gives you some idea how much fun they must have working together on this project.

“…its sense of fun is almost as infectious as the zombie virus…”

And it’s that sense of fun that shines through in their performances, right from the opening titles montage of them mowing down zombies in slow-motion outside the White House. The actors are all clearly having a blast, and clearly love working together, and that sense of fun is almost as infectious as the zombie virus. But because they’re all such accomplished actors, even amidst all the laughs and carnage they’re able to convey genuine moments of emotion and vulnerability that flesh out their roles into three-dimensional characters.

The same, perhaps, cannot be said for the new supporting characters introduced in this film, but that’s maybe no bad thing, as it allows the audience to spend most of their time focusing on the emotional journeys of the main four characters. The new additions, meanwhile, may not feel as three-dimensional, but they are all hilarious caricatures in their own right. Zoey Deutch is great as an air-head blonde who has surprisingly managed to survive this long on her own, while Avan Jogia plays a douche-y hippy singer who Little Rock takes a shine to. The ever-reliable Rosario Dawson, Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch all cameo as veterans of the zombie apocalypse, with Wilson and Middleditch playing characters who bear a striking resemblance to Tallahassee and Columbus.

“…barely a minute goes by without something that raises a smile or generates a chuckle…”

The laughs come thick and fast – even the opening studio logo for Columbia Pictures includes a great gag, and there’s some brilliant running jokes about Tallahassee’s preferred modes of transport. Sure, there may not be a single joke or gag that stands out from all the rest (like the memorable Bill Murray cameo in the first film), but the one-liners are so free flowing that barely a minute goes by without something that raises a smile or generates a chuckle. And the “Zombie Kill of the Week” cutaways have been upgraded to the “Zombie Kill of the Year”, which give director Ruben Fleischer and writers Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and David Callaham a chance to really go all-out with some ridiculous ideas.

The focus on the characters and the humour does arguably come at the expense of the plot – but then again, what is there really left to do with a post-zombie-apocalypse plot that hasn’t already been done to death? Neither the original Zombieland nor Double Tap are really all that concerned with a zombie-based plot, as their focus is on the characters’ emotional journeys and relationships, for which the zombie apocalypse just provides a backdrop. That said, the plot does try to introduce some new concepts into the Zombieland universe, explaining that the zombies have now evolved into different sub-types, including the moronic “Homers”, the intelligent “Hawkins”, the sneaky “ninjas”, and the newest variant, the resilient “T-800s”.

“…packed to the brim with great jokes expertly delivered…”

All in all, Double Tap is probably one more for the fans of the original Zombieland than for new audiences, as so much of the fun comes from the characters and their histories together. Equally, if you’re a horror “purist”, you may find the focus on comedy too much for your tastes. But if you’re looking for a consistently funny horror/comedy, led by an all-star cast and packed to the brim with great jokes expertly delivered, this might be just what you’re looking for this Halloween season.

Oh, and make sure you stay through the end credits...