Zombieland is a movie
that hasn’t aged poorly but is still pretty emblematic of its time, comprised
of several components that were in vogue at the time but would become overexposed
soon after. Part of its success was due to it riding the double waves of the
zombie craze of the late 2000’s, and the surge of hope and optimism after Obama’s
election. A sequel would’ve been fine two or three years later, but it was
stuck in development hell for the longest time, and having it released a decade
late only served to highlight how much has changed since then. All four of its
leads went on to become Oscar winning or nominated movie stars, and both the
waves it rode came crashing down hard. Maybe it could’ve worked if they adjusted
to the times, but sadly that wasn’t the case.
It’s been ten years since the
world was ravaged by the zombie apocalypse. Zombies have become more evolved
and ferocious, and Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson),
Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) have gotten more adept
at fighting them off. Having spent the last decade together, they’ve settled
into a more solid family unit, which includes getting sick of each other’s
company. After setting up shop in the White House, Little Rock and Wichita
decide to set off on their own, but Wichita comes back for help when Little
Rock decides to run off with an attractive young hippy (Avan Jogia) to a
survivor’s commune.
While Zombieland was an
amusing, sardonic take on the zombie apocalypse genre, essentially presenting
itself as a Murican version of Shaun of the Dead, Double Tap is
more of what people liked about the first: more meta humor, more zombies, and
more of the characters we know and love doing what they do best. This is both a
good and bad thing. On one hand it makes it pretty easy to recommend. If you
liked the first one, then this has more of it. But the unfortunate thing about Double
Tap’s refusal to change with the times was how much of a reminder of how
much has changed in the decade since the last one. It sets up a bunch of jokes
that feel played out before they even begin, and you’re sitting there hoping they’ll
subvert or twist it in some way, but they take it in the most predictable,
uninspired direction imaginable.
Probably the most egregious
example is the introduction new character Madison (Zoey Deutch), a stereotypical
dumb blonde that Columbus rebounds with after Wichita left. She’s such a played-out
stock character that it feels like she was plucked from a mid-90’s Adam Sandler
vehicle, and one who’s so phenomenally stupid that the fact she survived for so
long is the most unbelievable thing about the movie, and all she contributes to
the group dynamic is an equally predictable and played-out love triangle. It
doesn’t stop there. Tallahassee’s shotgun dad protectiveness of Little Rock and
burning hatred of hippies also feels like something that was run into the
ground, and you think they’re going to lead to his assumption being confirmed
or subverted, but they mostly end up becoming dead weight.
Story-wise, this movie is very
episodic in nature. See, Zombieland was originally pitched as a TV show,
so the plot where the group makes pit stops at various locations, meets new
characters, then hoofs it when zombies come in looking for a new meal feels
like a bunch of episode ideas that never came to fruition. Mostly notable is a
pit stop at Graceland that Tallahassee was talking up on the road. They find
out it’s been decimated, but find out there’s a tacky tourist trap down the
road that’s a near replica down the road, probably because they couldn’t shoot
in the actual Graceland. There, they meet a pair of travelers (Luke Wilson and
Thomas Middleditch) who are mirror images of Columbus and Tallahassee, one pair
getting along swimmingly, the other unable to stand each other. It’s an
inspired setup, but it’s run into the ground until it’s ground into hamburger.
Just like almost every other joke in this movie.
Bottom line, Zombieland:
Double Tap is dead on arrival. There are some funny moments, but it doesn’t
bring anything new to the table and operates on the presumption that if a joke
is funny the first time it’ll be even funnier the tenth. If you thought Zombieland
was just as funny now as it was in 2009, you’ll probably get a kick out of it.
But between this and The Dead Don’t Die, I think the zom-com needs to be put to
rest, at least until someone can come up with a unique spin on it.
5/10
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