Remember Jesse Eisenberg’s Columbus in Zombieland and his litany of rules that, he believes, has kept him alive? Well, in Zombieland: Double Tap—the sequel a decade in the making—rule number two could not have been a better moniker for a follow-up to the surprise hit 2009 zombie comedy starring Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abagail Breslin and Eisenberg.
Much has happened since we left the fab four off screen, including the fact that now they are all Oscar decorated thespians—Harrelson, Breslin and Eisenberg are nominees and of course Stone won for La La Land. On screen, our family (which honestly, that is what they truly have become), we learn in the same type of narration that threaded through the first Ruben Fleischer directed effort, that this dysfunctional clan has become fiercer as zombie killers and firmly feel as much joy slaying the undead as they do being together when there is no fear to face.
As teased in the Zombieland: Double Tap trailer, after 10 years on the run, the quartet have decided to put down roots and move into a home. What better abode than America’s house, aka the White House?! The sight of Harrelson’s Tallahassee sitting behind that iconic wood desk is a delight for longtime fans of Zombieland as well as appreciators of the work of the man who portrays the renegade. For a spell, it’s perfect, but at some point, each member feels the pull of the road—each for varying reasons. Sometime during this reflection, Columbus (Eisenberg) meets a blonde bombshell who goes by the name of Madison (Zoey Deutch, who steals the movie—more on her later). Now to say she’s as dim as theater lights during the trailers before they go completely dark for the film is an understatement. The not so bright character, of both genders, can too often be a low hanging humor fruit that borders on insulting. When dumb is played smartly, it is picture perfect. That is exactly what we have here.
Setting the “guts” of the story in motion, Little Rock (Breslin) takes off with a hippy-ish—and handsome—survivor named Berkeley (Avan Jogia). Firmly believing that age old adage that we find more success together than we do flying solo, the gang leaves the comfy (and safe) confines of 1600 Pennsylvania and scratch that itch that is desiring to be back on the road. Where they’re headed to catch up to Little Rock, well … that’s spoiler territory. Let’s just say they know.
The road trip movie is a terrific milieu to mine for comedy, interpersonal drama, piles of plot forward motion and of course, lots of zombies to put down. With actors of this level of excellence intertwining under the threatening cloud that is the apocalypse, coupled with a close-knit flock seeking their lost bird, it all adds up to heaps of hilarity, and even a few truly touching moments.
I had the pleasure of witnessing both films at a delightful double feature. The congruency is staggering. What else is impressive is how filmmakers have had things evolve and progress, i.e. the characters, the landscape and most importantly—those zombies. There are now various varieties of the undead. Each has a nifty, fitting and often hilarious title. The one that you just know is going to be vital to the conflict for the characters to overcome are faster, stronger and take a whole lot more to kill than a simple head shot, accompanied by that all-important Rule 2 on Columbus’ list—the Double Tap. Ensuring a zombie is dead, you shoot him or her twice. We hear about these better, faster, stronger Z’s and that threat hangs over everything as Columbus, Madison, Wichita and Tallahassee head out searching for the little girl who hates being called “little girl.”
The script by Dave Callaham, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick pops with a visceral immediacy that is of course one of the aspects of Zombieland that has endeared that comedy classic to millions over the years. There is not a wasted word, toss away moment or a single slice of action that is not 100-percent Zombieland worthy. After all, ten years has past and the film has become an institution of the cinematic variety. No one involved with that first flick would want to do anything to tarnish its legacy and place in the popular culture zeitgeist. Good news to report: That is furthest from what occurs. In fact, it could be argued that Double Tap is an even wilder ride with more profound laughs and a closing action sequence that makes that Pacific Playland conclusion to Zombieland feel almost anti-climactic—yes, that is saying something.
Wernick and Reese co-wrote the first film. The addition of Callaham (who penned all three Expendables movies) is a stroke of brilliance to have that fresh voice add so much. After all, when one looks as what the screenwriter has coming up and see all those tent poles that studios have so much riding on, you have to know there is a level of brilliance Callaham brings to a project. Look for the Zombieland: Double Tap co-writer’s upcoming scripts to leap from his pages to the big screen with Wonder Woman 1984, Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Expendables 4 and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2. That’s some serious mettle, given the importance of tent pole flicks to a studio’s bottom line.
Fleischer, fresh off directing the blockbuster Venom, returns to the world that put him on the map in 2009. That seamlessness that I spoke of is certainly due to the screenwriters, but in terms of the visual, dramatic and comedic elevation occurring effectively … it is all on the helmer. His set must be one of rich creative collaboration because every aspect of the production feels heightened. The actors have all raised their game—ten years of experience will do that. The script bristles with power, the scope is richer and more vast and lastly, Fleischer keenly knows how to pack a motion picture punch that hits audiences in all the right places, emotionally, and even physically (count on several moments where the body literally responds to the action on the screen).
The returning foursome, when it is all broken down, are the true reason why audiences have fallen in love with Zombieland exponentially as the years have passed. There is something that is so richly tethered between these characters and audiences that viewers simply enjoy being in their company. As it so happens, they’re also humorous and very, very adept at killing zombies in the most creative and fantastical ways.
Harrelson was born to be Tallahassee. Several times he utters the phrase, “thank goodness for rednecks,” throughout Zombieland: Double Tap and it comes at a pitch perfect time. There is nobody else in the universe who can deliver that line, in that situation in that manner, like Harrelson. Eisenberg’s awkward quirkiness was a match made in heaven with Columbus back in 2009, and he has aged into the character even further—like a fine wine. Witnessing him immersed in fresh situations and new characters (such as Deutch’s, Rosario Dawson’s Nevada, Thomas Middleditch’s Flagstaff and Luke Wilson’s Albuquerque) is everything. Breslin tackles the evolution of her character from 12 to 22 magnificently. After all, given those parameters, it is Little Rock who had to have gone through the most change. Stone is as commanding as ever and witnessing her take on the chemistry between Wichita and Columbus is a layered evolution that harks back to the first film while pushing the boundaries of where the two go in the second film. That is made so much more complicated by the presence of Madison.
Deutch steals the entire film. Her ditzy blonde, Juicy-wearing, survivor is one part Valley Girl, one part damsel in distress and all one enormous bomb of complication between Columbus and Wichita. The way in which the young actress tackles what could have been a cardboard cut-out further shows that Deutch is a name we are going to be hearing much from in the decades to come. In 2017’s Before I Fall, she carried the entire movie and made a talent announcement that was seismic. Since then, the daughter of Back to the Future star’s Lea Thompson, has found an even vaster voice with her thespian talents. It says so much that the takeaway from Zombieland: Double Tap is her, given that Academy Award pedigree that surrounds her. Makes one think that that honor will be bestowed on her sometime in the future. It is a question of when, not if, Deutch will be nominated and win an Oscar.
The sub-title of the latest Zombieland feature is also apt for another reason. Do not be surprised if audiences return to the theater for a second helping, a Double Tap, of Zombieland 2.
Grade: A-