Zombieland: Double Tap is the sequel to Zombieland (2009). This film will put a smile on your face but this film falls a bit short. This isn’t a masterpiece and is easily forgotten about, it doesn’t make a big enough impact.
A decade on from the first film, the actors involved have had huge successes, Woody Harrelson achieved two more Oscar nominations; Emma Stone has also been nominated for an Oscar whilst also winning one; Jesse Eisenberg has secured himself a career as a playwright. Along with this the screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick moved onto the Deadpool franchise and director Ruben Fleischer secured himself Venom, the biggest success of his career to date. With all these developments in the careers of the entire cast and crew, it is odd that this film isn't better. With such excellent actors, writers and director, we would expect this film to be outstanding yet it is odd that really this film should have been so much better than it actually is.
In this sequel, we are reunited with our team from the first film as they find themselves a new home, The White House. We believe that our team is content which their new home and the life they are now living - at least for the men they are content with their new lives. However, with their attempts to force the females in the group into traditional gender roles, a makeshift daughter and a loyal wife, this forces the women to flee the nest. The rest of the plot is the men coping without the women but then turns into an adventure for Tallahassee (Harrelson), Columbus (Eisenberg) and Wichita (Stone) to find Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). We meet a variety of characters along the way, some of are interesting and help the plot develop, others are annoying and don't really add anything. Madison (Zoey Deutch) is a stereotypical dumb, ditzy blonde. This character has been added to create more humour yet at times she is more irritating than funny.
This film is more about our main characters than zombies, our ending battle sequence is all about the characters coming together and finding out where they really belong. It is difficult to improve or meet the love and expectations from the first film. With that being said, Zombieland: Double Tap is at times enjoyable and occasionally funny but it isn't as good as the first.
It feels as if something is missing from this film, the pace is fast which works in its favour. This fast pace keeps you interested in what is happening. The performances from the cast are good but you also expect more from them as these performances could have been better. Compared to other films that have also recently been released this film isn't as good, whether it was rushed or the writing wasn't as strong or the film itself is stuck in the past. This film is competing with other films that are huge successes yet this is one goes under the radar.
Overall, this film is ok. It is enjoyable to watch but it could have been a lot better. This is due to the premise of the film stuck in the past, and the writing needed a lot more work. Performances weren't strong and with a strong cast with some who have Oscar nominations we expect amazing characters and performances and these weren’t delivered to a standard that we expected. The story was messy at times and at the end we get a post-credit scene which didn’t really answer many questions. As to whether there will be another film in this franchise, that will be unlikely considering the reception from this one. Zombieland: Double Tap is enjoyable to watch but it isn’t a film you would want to watch again and again and probably will be forgotten about in a couple of months.
