Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Not only Zombieland is one of my favourite films, it is also my favourite Zombie film — it is dumb and all but at least doesn't make the mistake of trying to be smart and it's a lot of fun. It comes without saying that, ten years later, I was very looking forward to seeing its sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap. I was so hyped I even skipped reviews to avoid negative energy. Thankfully, Ruben Fleischer's film turned out to be a funny and entertaining zombie flick; in other words, a worthy sequel.

Ten years after the events of Zombieland, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) have moved into the White House and are getting used to — both finding comfort and discomfort — to their new domestic life. Columbus and Wichita are now a couple, while Tallahassee and Little Rock have a father-daughter kind of relationship going on. One night, Columbus decides to propose to Wichita. She doesn't take it particularly well; in fact, she runs away with Little Rock, leaving Columbus heartbroken and Tallahassee without the Beast.

A month later, while exploring a mall crawling with zombies, Columbus and Tallahassee stumble upon a dumb blonde named Madison (Zoey Deutch); Columbus somehow manages to convince a reluctant Tallahassee to bring her with them at the White House and ends up sleeping with her.

Not long after, Wichita returns to the White House to inform the guys that Little Rock has run off with some hippy musician named Berkeley (Avan Jogia), only to discover that they've moved on already as she learns that Columbus has been sleeping with Madison. Despite their new personal issues, the three and Madison team up to rescue Little Rock and bring her back home. Along the way, they meet new characters as well as a new, evolved breed of zombie, the T800.

Double Tap's plot is a bit on the light side as it's very basic and straightforward; it's a bit lacklustre at times, some of the pit stops — I suppose it's appropriate since this is a road movie — don't always seem to fit and feel like a needless addition, and it covers some familiar ground as it's similar to its predecessor's. However, it is very entertaining and engaging throughout and despite several plot points/elements of Zombieland are used it still feel fresh and original.

Character-wise, don't expect the greatest development of all times here but the writers did a pretty solid job with the four heroes. While Columbus is pretty much the same guy he was in the first film, Tallahassee is a bit more caring and less selfish, though still hiding behind that badass act; Wichita still has commitment issues but this time around she appears to be willing to solve them; and Little Rock who no longer is a kid wants to leave the nest and find people her own age — I've read people complaining about the way she acts as it's inconsistent with the character but I think it's pretty reasonable considering she was just a kid at the beginning of the apocalypse and would do whatever her big sister did or asked; she's a young woman now, so it's only natural she wants to spend time with young people and have a boyfriend because that's her only chance at normalcy, even though it means conforming to societal rules. And I liked how the relationships between them developed — the sexual tension between Columbus and Wichita, the macho tension between Tallahassee and Columbus, and the father-daughter relationship between Tallahassee and Little Rock.

As for the new supporting characters, while they are pretty one-dimensional and clichéd, they truly add to the film, especially Madison, the stereotypical dumb blonde. She is one, if not the most annoying and unlikeable character I've seen on screen this year but her energy and quirkiness make her quite lovable, and the credits definitely go to Zoey Deutch for giving such an entertaining and fun performance.

Deutch isn't the only one who gives in a more than solid performance here. Jesse Eisenberg yet again pulls off the lovable nerd very well and Emma Stone and her dry humour are a delight to watch, but it's Woody Harrelson who gives the best leading performance. He is not given a lot to work with this time around but he sure knows how to get the best of it and gives a hilarious performance. Not to mention how good he is at impersonating the King, Elvis Presley. And the chemistry Eisenberg, Stone and Harrelson share is still incredible — I didn't mention Breslin because a, I was not impressed with her performance at all and b, she barely interacts with the others and when she does the chemistry isn't really there.

As for the humour, it is spot-on. Double Tap is just as irreverent and darkly humoured as its predecessors and the jokes, although some a pretty lame, are consistently funny — I don't remember the last time I laughed so much in theatres. The soundtrack is pretty good too and I loved how the named the various zombie types — there's the Homer, named after Homer Simpson because dumb; the Hawking, named after Stephen Hawking because smart; the Ninja because silent and sneaky; and the T800, named after the Terminator franchise because capable of evolving and adapting.