Harry Situation Reviews: Zombieland 2: Double Tap
Time to nut up or shut up with the release of Zombieland 2: Double Tap, the long-awaited zombie comedy sequel (ten years to be exact) to Zombieland, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin reprising their roles.
Some time has passed and our four heroes from the last film are enjoying the little things in life, such as killing zombies. But that gets interrupted quickly when the youngest of the group (Breslin) goes off on her own with a hippie and so it turns into a “rescue” mission. Sorta.
I absolutely love Zombieland. Who would of that of a comedy movie featuring zombies?
Yeah I know there’s Shaun of the Dead but I haven’t seen it sadly.
Still, the first Zombieland, one of my favorite films, and one of the best theater experiences I shared with my dad.
So, was this sequel to a major hit forth the wait with some glorified zombie kills of the week?
Umm...
Okay, let’s get to the positives real quick. Firstly, it’s great having the original cast back in this film. I love all this actors. In fact the first Zombieland was when I first got familiarized with Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Emma Stone. I didn’t know or see any other movies they may have starred in before Zombieland (although some Cheers fans may recognize Woody Harrelson more than I would ever), but thanks to that film, I’ve been big fans of them and I’ve followed them since. Thankfully that dynamic, charisma, and comedic performances return in this film, as if they never left our memories. There’s even a special cameo by a certain someone from the original film, but I won’t spoil who that is. Or maybe I already did?
Any who, like the first film there are some good laughs and good zombie kills. Woody Harrelson's Tallahassee once again proving he's the best character in these movies by coming up with the funniest lines in the movie.
But then there’s that big problem with this sequel. Let me emphasis that for everyone: just like the first film. That’s always a problem that writers for comedy sequels always run into. They feel it necessary to repeat the same jokes, even the same lines, from the first film because they think if the audience found it funny or entertaining the first time they’ll like it the second, or even the third time. Well, most of the time, it doesn't. It just becomes repetitive. We've seen it before so our reaction will be less enthusiastic. And that was my basic reaction to this film. Less enthusiasm than before.
The film also suffers from all these add on characters and they don't help the film, only hinder it. One of the characters is a survivor named Madison (played by Zoey Deutch) who is your stereotypical dumb blonde. And I mean it. This character is fucking dumb to a point that her presence was a huge annoyance. I thought I was going to have an aneurysm the more she spoke.
And there's also Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch in this movie who are there for a cheap laugh at the fact that their characters mirror Columbus and Tallahasse (Eisenberg & Harrelson). They came off as annoying too. It was even made worse where there was a three minute long segment between these characters having a dick-measuring contest about their personalities and their own set of Zombieland rules. It got so annoying and infuriating to a point where I wanted to scream at the screen, at the top of my lungs, while my parents were seated next to me, "OH MY GOD! JUST SHUT UP AND MOVE THE FUCK ON ALREADY!!!!"
So yeah, the truth is I didn’t really enjoy this film. I will say that it is watchable again over The Dead Don’t Die, which was a big disappointing zombie comedy of this year. But unfortunately this sequel was ten years too late. I guess the last good zombie comedy was the original Zombieland, and I don’t think we’ll ever get anything like that again.
Positives:
-OG cast back
-Some laughs & zombie kills
Negatives:
-Feels too familiar
-New add-ons
-Overall bland
Final Grade: C-
So those are my thoughts on Zombieland 2: Double Tap. Have you seen it? What were your thoughts? Seen the first one? What were your thoughts on that? Please be kind, leave a like and comment, and check out more reviews here on Prose!
Best Quote:
Tallahassee: “I don’t hate pacifists. I just want to beat the shit outta them.”