Monster Truck and Madison – ‘Zombieland: Double Tap’ Adds More Action to The Stand Out Sequel [REVIEW]

The sequel to the 2009 film “Zombieland” starring Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, and Abigail Breslin officially premiered in theaters over the weekend. I’m fan of the original film, so once the announcement for “Zombieland: Double Tap” was revealed I knew I was heading to the movies to see this one.

In “Zombieland” we meet Columbus (Eisenberg) who is the narrator of the film. He describes the apocalypse where zombies have slowly taken over the world and running into human contact is far and few between. Columbus then meets Tallahassee (Harrelson) and they are on a quest for Twinkies when they stumble upon Wichita and Little Rock (Stone and Breslin), who have been scamming people way before the end of the world; Columbus and Tallahassee become victims to that, but they all eventually settle their differences and become one, big Zombieland family traveling the country together and killing zombies while doing so. Now that you’re caught up on the first film let’s get into the new one.

“Zombieland: Double Tap” doubles the zombies, doubles the humans, and doubles the action. No wonder “Double Tap” was an appropriate title for the sequel because everything is bigger.  It’s been 10 years in the making and yet it seems just like yesterday we were watching Columbus, Wichita, Tallahassee, and Little Rock navigate surviving a zombie apocalypse.

This film is a wild ride of action from the start with the epic opening credits featuring the four leads to a climatic fight sequence towards the end of the film: two words…MONSTER TRUCK! As always with my movie reviews I like to break down certain elements of the film that stood out for me the most and there may be slight SPOILERS ahead, but nothing major that will destroy the plot of the film. If you’re that person, so go ahead and enjoy below.

Photo: Sony Pictures

Double Tap/Double Gory
The sequel to “Zombieland” introduces new types of zombies and ups the gore factor compared to the first film. With a decade passing and navigating through the world, survivors have encountered a variety of zombies some of which have evolved to highly intelligent beings. Think Army of the Dead/The Long Night vibes to get an idea of these advanced zombies. With that in mind the “Zombie Kill of the Week” has escalated to “Zombie Kill of the Year” with more elaborate ways to take out the enemy making for some pretty violent moments on-screen. I didn’t hate it or was really disturbed by it, but I don’t remember “Zombieland” being as gory as “Double Tap.” So just go into the movie with that in the back of your mind.

Photo: Sony Pictures

Columbus vs. Columbus
As evident in the trailer there was a moment in the movie where Columbus and Tallahassee come face to face with their post apocalyptic doppelgängers, Albuquerque (Luke Wilson) and Flagstaff (Thomas Middleditch). This was indeed one of the highlights of the film and made for such a hilarious scene sequence with Columbus comparing his set of rules to surviving Zombieland to Flagstaff’s commandments. The interactions between these added cast members with the established ones was really good and I wanted more of it. During this part of the film you were able to catch your breath, but only slightly because more action was coming. That’s one thing I really liked about this film is that there weren’t that many dead spots that I can recall of me being bored. The Ruben Fleischer directed film had a flow that mimicked “Zombieland” seamlessly.

Photo: Sony Pictures

Better 10 Years Later? 
Creating a follow-up film is always tricky when fans resonate with the first so well. Do you even dare touch it? Will it have the same impact especially after so much time has gone by? 10 years is a long time for a sequel to come out, but “Zombieland: Double Tap” was able to maintain much of the magic of “Zombieland” effortlessly. The chemistry between the cast remained the same and the added cast members meshed  so well with the story that it didn’t seem inorganic. Madison (Zoey Deutch), Berkeley (Avan Jogia), and Nevada (Rosario Dawson) provided amusing subplots to accompany the main story line with Madison being a stand out character for viewers adding an unforeseen drama. There were some call backs to the first film like: “don’t swing, don’t swing, swing,” how Columbus and Wichita met, the girl in 406, “time to nut up or shut up,” and who kill Bill Murray, but “Double Tap” could easily be a stand alone movie with viewers being able to see this film without any knowledge of the previous.

Zombies equate to Spooky Season, so if you want a Halloween treat to see in theaters that’s not in your face scary then this is the movie for you. If you were a fan of “Zombieland” in 2009 then I think you will enjoy seeing where the characters ended up and how they very much stayed the same 10 years later. Action packed, comedy filled, and even very sentimental; ““Zombieland: Double Tap” is a sequel that rivals the original in the best way. I give “Zombieland: Double Tap” four Glambergirlblog kisses 💋💋💋💋. (P.S. make sure to stay for the mid credits bonus scene.)

Did you check out “Zombieland: Double Tap” opening weekend like me? How did it compare to the 2009 first film? Would you want to see the saga continue? Share all your thoughts with me in the comments. Watch the red band, uncensored trailer for “Zombieland: Double Tap” in the clip below.

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Photo: Sony Pictures