Movie Review: "Zombieland: Double Tap" Is Here to Party Like It’s 2009

Zombieland felt like a carnival ride. Double Tap is a time machine that only goes back.

Finally, the ceaseless cries of the Zombieland superfans can be silenced, now that the ravenous horde has been rewarded with a sequel to their beloved holy text.

(*Gazes off into an empty apocalyptic expanse, wondering if there’s actually a horde of fans left.*)

Hmm, so maybe the screeching demands for another Zombieland have quieted to a dull roar, given that ten years have passed since the original arrived, and the fact countless imitators, not to mention the deathless Walking Dead franchise, have stumbled along in its wake.

But you wouldn’t know it’s not still 2009 from sitting through director Ruben Fleischer’s breezy sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap. And I suppose that makes sense, considering a zombie outbreak in the previous entry halted civilisation at that precise moment in time. That explains why a new character, airheaded Madison (a scene-stealing Zoey Deutch), dresses in an era-appropriate pink tracksuit and Von Dutch T-shirt. We’ve had to wait so long for a Zombieland sequel, it’s literally become a period piece.

Jesse Eisenberg, who was apparently preserved in amber this past decade, returns as Columbus, a bookish type who survived the zombie dystopia by sticking to his detailed set of rules ("#18: Limber up", "#31: Check the back seat”). In the first feature, he partnered up with the reckless, zombie-killin' Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), and snarky sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). As we learn in Double Tap, this makeshift family built a home for themselves in the vacated White House, yet the isolation (and uncomfortable proximity to one another) took its toll. So, Wichita and Little Rock exit 1600 Pennsylvania Ave faster than a Trump appointee, leaving a heartbroken Columbus to find solace in the arms of Madison, who’d been hiding out in a freezer, raising the question as to whether or not someone can get frostbite on the brain.

For a moment, you feel duped, wondering if that’s how they convinced now-Oscar winner Stone to give her time to Double Tap: by letting her leave after 10 minutes. Mercifully, she comes back, with warnings of a new, smarter, less-killable mutated model of zombie on the loose, and concerns that Little Rock is now at risk (having joined a commune of defenceless hippies). So it’s back on the road, with plenty more zombies to fight, and even more famous strangers to encounter/almost murder.

Original screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese have scripted the follow-up to their breakout hit, though these days they’re advertised as the brains behind Deadpool. Any way you sell them, they deliver the same thing: d***-and-ball jokes punctuated by extreme gore. As with Deadpool, they’re helped immeasurably by charming stars, with Stone, an always-enthusiastic goofball, returning to the rubber-faced, meme-spawning sarcasm of her early flicks. It’s also good to see the likeable Breslin again; she hasn’t been in a major theatrical project since she was in her teens. Harrelson and Eisenberg do exactly as you expect of them, which is perfectly satisfactory. And there are a few other welcome new additions to the cast, all exiting way too early (if amusingly).

Director Ruben Fleischer reprises the visual flourishes that made his original stand out, like slow-motion zombie carnage and giant approximations of Columbus’ narration as on-screen text. But aside from an impressive single-take shootout seemingly inspired by Bad Boys II, what was once novel is now dated (or 'nostalgic' to anyone who feels particularly fond of the saga).

There aren't many surprises in store, or any sense of reinvigoration to the franchise. Really, Zombieland: Double Tap seems to exist purely to remind you what 2009 was like. Then again, it's either watching this or re-listening to the music of LMFAO. Choose wisely.

3/5

In Australian cinemas now. Rated MA15+ for strong horror violence.