"Zombieland: Double Tap" Movie Review

It's hard to make a sequel that's just as fresh and fun as the first film. This must have been the weekend of success, however, because the ten-year wait for Zombieland 2 paid off. In many ways, it honored the first and kept alive the spirit of this makeshift family's journeys through the zombie apocalypse. In other ways, it faltered slightly.

The film follows Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita, and Little Rock as they have found a home in the now-abandoned White House. Wichita gets a bit freaked after her and Columbus' relationship takes a sharp turn and she jumps ship. She and Little Rock head out on their own. It's not long, however, before she's back on Columbus' doorstep asking for help. The only problem? Columbus has met Madison, which puts even more strain on their already strained relationship.

I'm going to go ahead and get the negatives out of the way. First, Zoey Deutch's Madison character wears thin after a while. She's one of those stereotypical, prissy sorority girls that just annoy the living hell out of people with brains. That's part of the humor, yes, and for a while it is funny to see the love angle going on among Columbus, Madison, and Wichita. By the halfway mark, though, you find yourself wishing this Madison girl would get eaten or something. Same with Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch's characters. They seemed so pointless and did nothing for the story.

The other negative is that there's a bit of predictability. It pretty much follows the formula of the first so it's pretty easy to guess how things will unfold. The other side of that coin is that, predictable or not, the writers still were able to keep the film fun and interesting.

The positives far outweigh the negatives. First, we have a change-up in the plot. Instead of having a Walking Dead situation where our heroes kill some zombies, run, and repeat, there's an actual sense of urgency and you find yourself hoping everything will turn out okay. We didn't really have that in the first film. Second, Rosario Dawson's character was a great addition to the cast. She and Woody Harrelson had great chemistry and I look forward to seeing what they do with her character should there be a third film. Third, I loved the inclusion of growing pains. No, not the show. Literal growing pains. It's difficult for some apocalypse movies to remember that kids growing up during the end of the world are still going to have their teen phase. We saw that here with Little Rock and the effect her sudden angsty decision-making had on the team.

In conclusion, I had a great time watching this film. The first is still my favorite but the sequel stands its ground and nabs an award for successful sequel. I give Zombieland: Double Tap a 3 out of 4.