I don't know if you enjoy a combination of horror and comedy. They seem like extreme ends that you wouldn't find together, as horror leaves that intensity and scare while comedy could be said to be the opposite, it leaves that ease and laughter all around it. Somehow, writers, directors and producers found a way to make this work. This has been evident in some movies, and I'm bringing one in this review.
So, I happened to watch the movie Zombieland: Double Tap some time back. The movie was released in 2019 and was a sequel to the first movie Zombieland which was released in 2009. Funny enough, I came across the sequel before realising the first movie existed. But I won't be reviewing the first movie here. This is about the sequel.
It featured the main cast of Woody Harrelson (Tallahassee), Jesse Eisenberg (Colombus), Abigail Breslin (Little Rock) and Emma Stone (Wichita) reprising their roles from the first movie. The likes of Zoey Deutch (Madison), Rosario Dawson (Nevada), Luke Wilson (Albuquerque) Thomas Middleditch (Flagstaff) and Avan Jogia (Berkeley) were added to the cast, with the movie directed by Ruben Fleischer.
Zombieland: Double Tap is a post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film. The quartet of Tallahassee, Columbus, Little Rock and Wichita are surviving the world full of zombies by killing them, all while being light and playful about it. You would expect that survivors in a zombie-filled post-apocalyptic world to be serious and perhaps discreet about their lives and survival. Well, at least Columbus had some special rules of survival.
This was basically a continuation of the first movie, which had Little Rock and Wichita leaving the group to be on their own. Wichita returned to where Tallahassee and Columbus were residing, in need of weapons to go after Little Rock who left for a place called Graceland, and meeting Berkeley who they travelled together. This sets the team of three on this quest. Well, four as they're joined by the naive and bubbly Madison who Tallahassee and Columbus found at a store and the latter brought her home.
The team faced a different kind of zombies from the ones they knew. These ones were hard to kill. Along the way, in their journey, they came across a motel, where they met Nevada, who was helpful and revealed to them that Little Rock and Berkeley were headed for a place called Babylon. They also came across Albuquerque and Flagstaff there, who happened to know Nevada and were acclaimed Zombie killers too. It wasn't long before the opportunity presented itself to show what they could do. Let's say it went well and not well.
Beyond the comedy and humour, and them trying to survive in their own way, the odd unity and friendliness of the group while confronting the zombies that filled their world was good to see. It added to the comedic portrayal of the movie. The jokes, the teasing, the rules Columbus had and frequently mentioned them while concurrently fighting and killing zombies in some cases made it more interesting.
In a post-apocalyptic setting, even the most precious and secured things become normal and accessible. The movie explored this idea through the setting of the residence of Tallahassee and Columbus as the White House, which was where Wichita came back to and where the team took off from in search of Little Rock. They would have probably explored more landmarks that wouldn't normally be easily accessible but the post-apocalyptic world made it otherwise.
The actors put on a good performance. Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg played their roles well and you could feel the comedy side of the movie. Emma Stone was the funny but also serious character. Zoey Deutch did a good job with the limited time she had for her role. She emulated the dumb, clueless but lovable character. This might not be as interesting as the first movie as some viewers have expressed, it made a good sequel and a fairly good watch.
Rating: 68/100
