Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)
October 26, 2019 9:13 PM - Subscribe
Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family.
NYTimes: The whole movie is very 2009, which is amusing and puzzling and possibly kind of a relief, given what “very 2019” might look like.
Vox: I love a good social horror film, but it’s oddly relaxing, in 2019, to watch a zombie film in which the zombies aren’t metaphors for anything at all. The Zombieland franchise isn’t about the Cold War or the Other or how the real zombies are the humans. They’re just zombies, and they exist solely to be dispatched with speed and creative weaponry.
Zombieland: Double Tap’s story is a little vapid. But that’s in line with the first movie’s vibe; besides The Hangover, 2009’s other high performers in comedy included movies like Couples Retreat, Bride Wars, and I Love You, Man, all movies that feel a little dated in retrospect but are still funny enough to watch if you catch them on cable.
Zombieland: Double Tap is self-aware of its existence as a sequel. At the beginning of the film, Eisenberg’s Columbus cheekily acknowledges in voiceover that they know viewers have a lot of choices when it comes to zombie entertainment and thanks us for choosing them, as if we’re sitting on an airplane, waiting to take off.
Salon: The film benefits from the fact that the performers seem to be having a great time, as they did in the first go-round. While it's impossible to say for sure that they were having a blast on set — for all I know, they secretly hated each other and were passive-aggressive the whole time — this film gives off a cheeky, borderline giddy vibe that makes it as weirdly endearing as the previous one. The material is strong on its own, to be sure, but it's elevated by the fact that Harrelson, Stone, Eisenberg, and Breslin all seem to be having a blast. Equal gusto is invested into the performances by the new characters played by Deutch and Jogia, as well as a possible love interest for Tallahassee named Nevada (Rosario Dawson) and two characters who seem like doppelgängers for Columbus and Tallahassee (Albuquerque and Flagstaff played by Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch, respectively).
NPR: Double Tap is a second (or fifth) helping of the same, its episodic plot mere scaffolding from which to hang variations on the same jokes that worked 10 years ago, when the distance between the post-apocalyptic world and our own felt a lot more ... distant. But they're solid jokes, and like its Obama-era ancestor, Double Tap doesn't overstay. For all the snacked-on viscera and exploding brains this low-ambition, slightly-higher-return sequel asks you to stomach, its Muppety determination to please is even sort of sweet.
Zombieland: Double Tap creators on that wild post credit scene
Trailer
NYTimes: The whole movie is very 2009, which is amusing and puzzling and possibly kind of a relief, given what “very 2019” might look like.
Vox: I love a good social horror film, but it’s oddly relaxing, in 2019, to watch a zombie film in which the zombies aren’t metaphors for anything at all. The Zombieland franchise isn’t about the Cold War or the Other or how the real zombies are the humans. They’re just zombies, and they exist solely to be dispatched with speed and creative weaponry.
Zombieland: Double Tap’s story is a little vapid. But that’s in line with the first movie’s vibe; besides The Hangover, 2009’s other high performers in comedy included movies like Couples Retreat, Bride Wars, and I Love You, Man, all movies that feel a little dated in retrospect but are still funny enough to watch if you catch them on cable.
Zombieland: Double Tap is self-aware of its existence as a sequel. At the beginning of the film, Eisenberg’s Columbus cheekily acknowledges in voiceover that they know viewers have a lot of choices when it comes to zombie entertainment and thanks us for choosing them, as if we’re sitting on an airplane, waiting to take off.
Salon: The film benefits from the fact that the performers seem to be having a great time, as they did in the first go-round. While it's impossible to say for sure that they were having a blast on set — for all I know, they secretly hated each other and were passive-aggressive the whole time — this film gives off a cheeky, borderline giddy vibe that makes it as weirdly endearing as the previous one. The material is strong on its own, to be sure, but it's elevated by the fact that Harrelson, Stone, Eisenberg, and Breslin all seem to be having a blast. Equal gusto is invested into the performances by the new characters played by Deutch and Jogia, as well as a possible love interest for Tallahassee named Nevada (Rosario Dawson) and two characters who seem like doppelgängers for Columbus and Tallahassee (Albuquerque and Flagstaff played by Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch, respectively).
NPR: Double Tap is a second (or fifth) helping of the same, its episodic plot mere scaffolding from which to hang variations on the same jokes that worked 10 years ago, when the distance between the post-apocalyptic world and our own felt a lot more ... distant. But they're solid jokes, and like its Obama-era ancestor, Double Tap doesn't overstay. For all the snacked-on viscera and exploding brains this low-ambition, slightly-higher-return sequel asks you to stomach, its Muppety determination to please is even sort of sweet.
Zombieland: Double Tap creators on that wild post credit scene
Trailer
My brother & I went to see this when it opened. It didn't quite live up to the original, but it was still fun and satisfying. In the zombie genre I'm 100% behind comedy zombies over horror zombies.
If they were to make a third (unnecessary), I'd like it if they turned the focus on Little Rock and Witchita over Tallahassee and Columbus.
posted by jzb at 11:22 AM on October 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
If they were to make a third (unnecessary), I'd like it if they turned the focus on Little Rock and Witchita over Tallahassee and Columbus.
posted by jzb at 11:22 AM on October 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
This was some silly fun. Yeah, the original was better, but this was pretty much what I was looking for out of the movie, plus Rosario Dawson. And I agree with jzb about a possible sequel.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:51 AM on October 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rmd1023 at 5:51 AM on October 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
If they were to make a third (unnecessary), I'd like it if they turned the focus on Little Rock and Witchita over Tallahassee and Columbus.
I think I've read some rumours that they're thinking of a spinoff about Zooey Deutch's character?
posted by tobascodagama at 9:35 AM on October 28, 2019
I think I've read some rumours that they're thinking of a spinoff about Zooey Deutch's character?
posted by tobascodagama at 9:35 AM on October 28, 2019
Lightweight but entertaining. I didn't resent having spent $20 on the ticket. I do think it was a bit gorier than the last one, but perhaps my memories of the last one have faded.
There was one particular line in the mid-credits scene that made me explode with laughter, primarily due to the actor's delivery.
posted by praemunire at 11:56 AM on October 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
There was one particular line in the mid-credits scene that made me explode with laughter, primarily due to the actor's delivery.
posted by praemunire at 11:56 AM on October 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
That whole mid/post credits stuff was an absolute delight.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:31 PM on October 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 5:31 PM on October 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Not sure if it was the weirdly conservative social bend of the writing (hippies are stupid! millenials are vapid! girls make poor choices!) or just the generally unengaging plot full of dangling non-angles (ninja zombies are so sneaky you literally never see them again in the entire film! super zombies are... basically zombies, but supersmart with extra hitpoints and oh you just stampede em off a cliff and that's good enough), but our entire cohort left the movie with such a bad taste in our mouths that it made me wonder if the first film was much shittier than I remembered. Even the general reviews of **shrug** "it's fine" seem aggressively generous...
posted by FatherDagon at 12:38 PM on October 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by FatherDagon at 12:38 PM on October 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
one particular scene that I thought was a reference to Miller's Crossing.
you didn’t imagine it, it was pretty clear
We laughed a bunch. Didn’t hate it.
posted by mwhybark at 2:23 AM on January 5, 2020
you didn’t imagine it, it was pretty clear
We laughed a bunch. Didn’t hate it.
posted by mwhybark at 2:23 AM on January 5, 2020
Rosario Dawson is the most crushworthy human being alive.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:11 PM on June 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:11 PM on June 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
A pretty good zombie comedy. I definitely shouted at the screen a few times, but also appreciated Salty Taffy getting all dad about Little Rock growing up. FatherDagon's "conservative" read is a good summary of some issues with the themes, but Madison subverted some of the dumb girl tropes by surviving and being helpful, and the pacifists did band together to create the zombie gauntlet, so it wasn't all through conservative goggles.
Also, I was a bit home-town proud when Albuquerque said his zombie bite was a tattoo he got in Bernalillo, because that's a real city (Wikipedia), just north of ABQ, and it has a tattoo shop (currently). But making Albuquerque's nickname "Querq"? Yeah, no. The nickname should have been Burque, a nickname for the city (Wikipedia). He's no Burqueño.
Bonus link: the original script depicted killing zombies as being so repetitive that it was boring, making it even more meta (Alt Press).
posted by filthy light thief at 11:24 AM on July 26, 2020
Also, I was a bit home-town proud when Albuquerque said his zombie bite was a tattoo he got in Bernalillo, because that's a real city (Wikipedia), just north of ABQ, and it has a tattoo shop (currently). But making Albuquerque's nickname "Querq"? Yeah, no. The nickname should have been Burque, a nickname for the city (Wikipedia). He's no Burqueño.
Bonus link: the original script depicted killing zombies as being so repetitive that it was boring, making it even more meta (Alt Press).
posted by filthy light thief at 11:24 AM on July 26, 2020
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posted by MoonOrb at 9:15 PM on October 26, 2019 [2 favorites]