Ten years after the release of the smash hit Zombieland, the film finally got a sequel. The entire original, main cast reunited in Zombieland: Double Tap. The question is, of course, does this sequel live up to the original? The hard answer is no. Zombieland: Double Tap is still all kinds of crazy, over the top humor and fun but comes across as slower paced and not as exciting as the original film. Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and the rest deliver stellar performances and the zombies are upgraded into nigh unstoppable killing machines but the sequel still lacks the charm of the original. Where as Zombieland in many ways treaded new ground like Shawn of the Dead did by taking zombie movie tropes and making them laughable, there’s not much new in Double Tap. It’s the same gags and jokes played out all over again. There are few moments in the film that truly shine. The ones that do such as Tallahassee and Columbus encoutering parody versions of themselves will make one smile but each one like that there are a dozen that simply fall flat.
Zombieland: Double Tap is by no means a bad movie but it’s far from great. The ending of the first movie was one heck of shoot out but in Double Tap, there are no guns at its end. The group of misfits turned pseudo-family have to come up with others means of saving themselves from the undead. These range from using a monster truck to smash zombies to killing them like lemmings by herding the creatures into running off of a high tower to fall to their deaths. All of this is rather anti-climactic compared to the first movie.
Perhaps the best part of Zombieland: Double Tap happens after the movie is over. As the credits roll, the audience is treated to a back story of Bill Murray and how he survives the beginning of the zombie plague that has wiped out most of humanity. Murray is just as awesome as always and lives up to his rep. in the film of being his generation’s greatest comedic actor.
