Zombieland: Double Tap
Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock are back a decade later, continuing their fight against zombies, and it’s an entertaining bit of silliness. The past ten years have found the characters continue to fight as a group, but tensions are arising because of simple things. For instance, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) is at the age where she’s wanting to get out in the world, and live a life different from the one she’s been stuck in- if things were normal, she would be off to college and out of the house; it’s not easy for her being the only one in her age group in this faux family. Her sister, Wichita (Emma Stone), wants to help her in that, and may need some space, as well, but she’s not quite prepared by what that looks like in Zombieland.
Ruben Fleischer found a clever way in to the zombie genre when he introduced the rules laid out by Jesse Eisenberg’s Columbus in the 2009 film, and this new film- written also by Dave Callaham, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick- delves into that concept further. As Columbus tells us, the foursome has started to identify different types of zombies in their travels, and battles, each with different hunting techniques and capacities to fight back at what human survivors can throw at them. They are laid out clearly in a montage at the beginning, and even the group will encounter a new breed as they travel from the White House, where they set up shop, to Graceland after Wichita and Little Rock head out on their own, leaving Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and Columbus to themselves, and Columbus heartbroken- he had proposed to Wichita. When Wichita returns unexpectedly, and finds Columbus having moved on with the ditzy Madison (played by the wonderful Zoey Deutch), the roadtrip that follows gets a little awkward.
“Double Tap” is a fun sequel; it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it gives the actors we came to watch revisit these roles a lot of room to play, and they all have their moments, and it expands the universe it built in the first film. When zombies are involved, certain references are going to be made, and since “The Walking Dead” has become a phenomenon in the intervening decade, a name check, and perhaps some narrative inspiration, is going to be made. It all feels of a piece with what was established in the original movie, though, and when the group comes across Nevada (Rosario Dawson) at a hotel just outside of Graceland, they find themselves confronted by fellow survivors whom may or may not bare some passing resemblance to the connections they’ve found themselves accomplishing. It’s a funny part of the film, and the kind of meta joke you expect in a film like this, which also plays a bit as a spoof of more serious genre fare while being a genuine part of that tradition.
The success of these two films ultimately comes down to the cast Fleischer put together, and would have believed me if I had told you a decade ago that all four of the main actors in this film had Oscar nominations by the time the sequel was released? More surprising- would you have believed me if I told you only one of them had won an Oscar, and that one wasn’t Woody Harrelson? The Oscar track record of these actors means nothing to the film, and how they operate in the film, but it’s to Fleischer’s credit he was able to get such a strong cast in the first film, and one who would continue to show their talent after the first film. They all have something specific they bring to the table in this group, and the result is wonderful chemistry between the characters, which extends to when they meet characters along the way. This is the type of ensemble we should hope for with any genre film, and any road movie. “Zombieland: Double Tap” is both, and because we have characters we enjoy spending time with, the film’s 99 minutes fly by even easier.
Oh yeah, and Bill Murray is back. You may just want to sit and wait for him, though.
