Just when you thought too many years had passed for Zombieland to have a sequel, enter Zombieland: Double Tap, the second installment of this film franchise, only ten years later. Everyone is back. Woody Harrelson. Emma Stone. Jesse Eisenberg. Abigail Breslin. And, yes, even [REDACTED: SPOILER] is back. The zombies are back, too, and they’re mutating into even scarier, smarter, faster versions of themselves. So what is our gang supposed to do, 10 years into the zombie apocalypse?
Let’s read on to find out?
We catch back up with our crew living in an abandoned White House. I want to say there’s some sort of commentary here about the current state of our government, but maybe that’s giving this movie too much credit.
Everyone seems to have settled down and is happy with this current set up. And by everyone, I mean mostly Columbus (Eisenberg). Little Rock (Breslin) is now an adult woman and is ready to find people her own age. Columbus proposes to Wichita (Stone) using the hope diamond, and now she’s feeling restless. So obviously the girls bail.
The separation of our happy gang is the necessary plot device to get this story rolling. It allows for our four main characters to go out in search of danger again, and it allows for a whole new cast of characters. The two most notable additions are Rosario Dawson and Zoey Deutch. So let’s talk about what they add, briefly.
Rosario Dawson plays a tough, gun-slinging badass living in a Graceland-themed hotel. As our four main characters start to accept Zombieland as a permanent way of living, everyone starts to think about finding their people to, you know, settle down with. Her character is that person for Tallahassee (Harrelson). Is there an eighteen year age difference between Dawson and Harrelson? Yes. Is this a problem? Only in that it’s a problem in almost every movie ever. But whatever.
My bigger problem was with Zoey Deutch’s character, who is brought in basically to threaten the relationship between Wichita and Columbus. She’s also a prime example of the “two kinds of girls” trope which is really damaging. Madison (Deutch) is into pink girly stuff and she prefers mace to a gun. She likes to shop and she overpacks. She’s there to show how much Wichita is “not like other girls.” Wichita is “cool” because she’s not into stupid girly things. Therefore she is smart and tough and right.
Look, I’m not trying to argue that Wichita is not a cool person. She is. But I don’t see why we have to create a character who is basically making fun of traditionally feminine-coded behavior. This was annoying and not funny.
That aside, many parts of the movie were funny. As everyone is finding a person to couple up with, Little Rock is unfortunate enough to find Berkeley, a pot-smoking, guitar-playing, pacifist who takes her to a commune with a very different outlook on zombie survivalism. This was an interesting twist that I don’t want to get too far into because this is a short little movie that’s worth seeing, despite my gripes.
I also like that this movie escapes the usual problem comedy sequels have of simply trying to recreate the first movie. There are definite nods to the first movie, like when Columbus finds out that “Murray’ed” has become a verb that means to accidentally kill someone who you think is a zombie. Which, hilarious. But also RIP, Bill Murray. Overall, however, Zombieland: Double Tap is its own movie. It’s not as good as the first one, but it made me laugh. In my mind, that means it’s worth a watch.
Pro tip: also be sure to stay for the mid-credits scene. It’s the best part of the movie.