Zombieland Double Tap: Less brains, less bite

The first Zombieland film was released when I was just 11 years old, and looking back, it seems like that was probably the ideal age to see this film. The mix of teen comedy and graphic violence would appeal to any pre-teen, who’s probably a bit too young to be watching. Before going into the sequel, I decided to re-visit the original, and upon re-watching, I found that I didn’t find it particularly funny anymore. But just because the jokes didn’t always land with me, doesn’t mean the film wasn’t entertaining. The characters are very likable and the film was enough fun that I did genuinely still enjoy it. For this reason, I went into the sequel somewhat apprehensive that the comedy wouldn’t be right for me, but with the assumption that I would at least enjoy the story (And if nothing else, that there might be some mindless zombie violence to get me through it).

As it turns out, Zombieland Double Tap has very few redeeming features, and its mindless zombie violence isn't even enough to pull it back from the edge.

"That sounds very 2009"

I think this line from the film probably best sums up the feel of it as a whole. You very quickly realise, going into this, that the film is essentially re-hashing every possible element from the original film that it possibly can, sometimes going out of its way to incorporate elements which made the first film memorable (mentioning the time you killed Bill Murray 10 years ago doesn't make it funny again). Luckily, these pointless references to the original aren't as frequent as I had feared, and for the most part, the film doesn't try to extend jokes which ran their course in the last film.

The film maintains the same style as the original, with giant CGI rules appearing around the characters depending on their situation, and whilst this is no longer new, it is still fun and at one point got a laugh out of me. 'Zombie Kill of the Week' is back, now as a yearly prize, but where the original kills were small scale and quaint, this new installment has tried to ramp up the kills to ridiculous and annoying effect (You'll know what I mean when you see it). This film also has one of the least interesting opening credits sequences you'll ever see, which is disappointing only because the original was very fun and creative with it's opening titles. Weirdly, the film's post credits scene would have made such a better opening sequence, since it's fun and also quite funny (not hilarious, but as close as the film gets), and it almost seems like this was originally the plan.

The characters we know and love from last time are back and less nuanced than ever. Tallahassee is the tough guy with a heart of gold. Columbus is obsessive and nervous. Wichita and Little Rock are strong women, except when they need saving etc. But you know what? I still do like these characters. Sure, this film doesn't develop them at all, but actually they're likable enough as it is that they are at least watchable. The same cannot be said for any of the new characters in the film, who are all frankly insufferable. Defenders of this film will inevitably argue that they are meant to be annoying and that's the joke, but there is literally only one prominent new character (Rosario Dawson) who isn't designed to get on another character's nerves, and her screentime is severely limited, compared to others.

The acting is actually pretty passable. You'd be hard pressed to argue that the actors weren't at least trying with this film. Woody Harrelson is clearly having a lot of fun in the role and he's still the standout character. Jesse Eisenberg fits back into his character's part pretty well, even if it has always been the archetypal Jesse Eisenberg character. Emma Stone is fairly good in this. Not Oscar-worthy like she can be, but you know... alright.

Naturally, the comedy is very suited to an audience slightly younger than myself. For this reason, I find it hard to be particularly upset about the comedy not being for me, because I'm not really the intended audience anymore. Often, a joke would be playing out which I could consider to at least be humorous, but then some onlooking character would always just have to point out what's funny. If you've seen the trailer you've seen the bit where the guy who looks and acts like Tallahassee comes in and Emma Stone and Jesse Eisenberg have to point out whats going on and how its funny that they are so similar. Now imagine that for the whole film. It gets annoying fast.

All that said though, people around me seemed to find it funny, so if you still like the comedy in the original you'll probably be fine, even if at times I was baffled about how some moments could ever be considered funny to anyone. Annoyingly the person behind me didn't feel this way and spent the whole time obnoxiously laughing and straight-up repeating punchlines out loud to the whole room. Laughing is fine, making the film about you is not.

But I think what disappointed me the most about the film was the violence. I'd expected the comedy to be sub-par, but violence is so much easier, and yet the film hammed it in. No hits feel like they have any weight behind them. The characters may as well be shooting at Plasticine. Fights have almost no tension, either going incredibly smoothly, or just immediately going so wrong that the characters have to be saved within seconds. Worst of all, I spent the whole film waiting for one final large-scale zombie battle, as with the original, but this was the most naff final fight scene I could have ever expected, which is disappointing since in the build up to the fight, I thought it had some real potential to be interesting. There is one very fun and very interesting fight scene in the middle, which works because it is much smaller scale and quite close quarters, and it even managed to make me laugh by the end, which was probably the highlight of the film for me.

Overall, Zombieland Double Tap is a pretty sub-par sequel to a film which was fresh and funny when it came out ten years ago. Part of the problem lies in the fact that we've seen everything the zombie genre has to offer by this point, and there really is no new interesting comedic angle to take on it. Maybe a follow-up would have worked better as a TV series, which was originally the plan, but it's hard to say. If you are still a fan of the first film then you're fairly likely to have a good time, but if like me you were just a casual fan of the original, there probably isn't a lot you'll get out of this.