Zombieland: Double Tap takes place ten years after the first film and once again follows Tallahassee, Columbus, Little Rock, and Wichita - reprised by Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, and Emma Stone, respectively - now one big happy family since the events of the first film. Things seem to be going great, though Little Rock, now an adult, is looking to gain her independence and not be under the watchful eye of either Tallahassee or Wichita. After she runs away with a hippie named Berkeley, played by Avan Jogia, the other three go on a mission to rescue her, while running into some new faces along the way.
The idea of a Zombieland sequel had been floating around almost immediately after the release of the first film back in 2009, though development stalled for years. As the years went by, the idea of a sequel with such a long gap since the first film started to become less tantalizing, given these scenarios rarely go well. Though the first Zombieland still had enough of a cult following to maintain enough interest in a sequel. And after much anticipation, fans will get to see their four favorite characters are still up to their old antics.
And this winds up being one of this sequel’s greatest strengths, as well as one of its biggest faults. It is nice to see Harrelson, Eisenberg, Breslin, and Stone back together again. All four have changed and greatly matured as actors since their first venture together, but they all maintain the fantastic chemistry they all had with one another ten years ago. Tallahassee and Columbus still make for a great comedic duo, while Wichita is just as sarcastic as ever. The film feels like it picks up right where the first film left off.
But in terms of character development, that’s exactly the problem. It’s been ten years since the first film, yet it feels like they’ve only been together for a few days since the first film. At this point, they would have all deeply matured, yet they still have some of the same quirks and hangups that they had when they first seen ten years ago. Wichita still puts up barriers between herself and others like in the first film, while Columbus is still a jittery manchild like he was in the first film, and Tallahassee is the same overbearing self-proclaimed de facto leader like he was in the first film.
The only one of the main four with any significant character development since the first film is Little Rock, who became close to Tallahassee during the first film, though now wants to break free when both he and Wichita continue to treat her like a little girl who can’t fend for herself. It’s a solid start to her arc, though unfortunately, she spends the majority of the film separated from the other three. She’s seen sporadically, as the film occasionally cuts to her and Berkeley while the other three look for her, but these scenes mainly consist of her just blindly falling for Berkeley’s claims of several famous songs from the 60’s as his own. These scenes never truly feel interesting, especially as Berkeley quickly comes off as annoying, feeling like the product of an entirely different decade.
There are a lot of obvious faults to this sequel that need to be reconciled in order to push through, mainly due to the fact that the film relies a bit too heavily on the audience’s love of the first film. However, once Tallahassee, Columbus, and Wichita hit the road, that’s where things become much more interesting. On their journey, the trio run into a few new faces, and their interactions are some of the film’s highlights.
Luke Wilson, Thomas Middleditch, and Rosario Dawson all appear as counterparts to Tallahassee, Columbus, and Wichita in one of the funnier sequences of the film. This winds up being a refreshing moment, given that the film relies so heavily on the audience’s nostalgia of the first film. And these characters allow the writers to acknowledge this fact and lampoon some of the first film’s more well-known elements and even make light of how dated some of these aspects feel. It’s purposely on-the-nose, but given the overall nostalgia-heavy feel of the movie, it works well.
Though the absolute highlight of the film is Zoey Deutch as Madison, who spends most of the film as Little Rock’s replacement. She plays a very stereotypical dumb blonde, “Valley girl” type that had the chance to get annoying very quickly. Yet, she plays off the other three characters very well, drawing out some of the characters’ nastier sides - particularly Wichita and Tallahasse - to hilarious results.
What makes her work though is that the movie doesn’t just devote all of its time with her on screen to just beating her down and simply making her just the butt of every joke. Sure, she gets picked on numerous times throughout the film, and the characters who do take issue with her don’t necessarily hide their disdain. But part of what makes her enjoyable is that she blissfully powers through all of the mean comments thrown at her, and focuses on moving forward along with the rest of the characters. The writers dedicate enough time to give her the distinct personality she needs to be likable, but the film doesn’t detract from the story at hand to delve into a needless side plot or just to stir up drama for the sake of it with the addition of her character.
The cast and the rapid-fire jokes are what makes this sequel so enjoyable, and despite its faults, it’s still enjoyable enough to ignore the fact it rehashes many elements of the original. The only other major issue is towards the end of the film, which is the nail in the coffin that keeps this movie at simply being good, and not great like its predecessor. While the film overall is fast-paced, the final act often feels rushed. A lot of the conflict gets resolved in a very polished and all too quick matter, and it comes off as jarring. Characters make drastic changes in their ways of thinking, and while it’s meant to show their growth, the film could have just dedicated maybe an extra quick scene or two getting to that point, especially given the amount of time previously dedicated to some of this conflict in the first place.
Zombieland: Double Tap is essentially a rehash of the first film, and in some aspects, it works, and others, it doesn’t. In terms of plot, it only adds so many new elements to the story, as it relies pretty heavily on audience’s nostalgia of the first film, and it gives off the feel that it only takes place not too long after the first rather than ten years. Yet, the film still has plenty going for it, including a nice quick pace, rapid-fire jokes, and a talented cast who are clearly all having fun doing what they’re doing, between all the returning players and some much-welcomed new faces. It’s not exactly the movie that was worth the ten years of hype, but it’s still overall a good time for the Halloween season.
Recommendation: Watch It
Comentários