After a long stretch, a "Zombieland" sequel comes our way, directed by Ruben Fleischer and penned by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Dave Callaham: all but the latter having worked on the first flick.
The original chapter was culled from a proposed, television series that didn't reach fruition due to its violent content. (This was long before "The Walking Dead" rose on AMC). In the theatrical film's wake, another "Zombieland" show was proposed. That also fizzled, thus circling back to another, big-screen treatment, subtitled "Double Tap".
"Double Tap" begins where the first left off (well, ten years after, in fact), with the same flippant but sensible, survival tips displayed on screen and the same neurotic characters enacting them: Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg); Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson); Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). They're comedy's answer to George A. Romero's classic living-dead strugglers and hold their own with "Walking Dead'"s somber sect. They're western heroes at heart, but that only goes to reason, since the "Zombieland" saga is a disguised western at heart.
The sequel's concept grants a further dip into self-discovery, with two of the leads branching beyond their comfort zone: an allegorical essay on why kids (and spouses) sometimes decide to stray. We got a taste of this in the first flick, but the motif is more involving this time, since there's more at stake, considering the members have formed a stronger, long-term, family bond.
The zombies are more cunning than they were before (well, speedier and stronger, that is, much like those of "Dawn of the Dead '04"). For any of the leads to fly the coop could place all in jeopardy (whether directly or indirectly, close or from afar), including the film's new participants (Rosario Dawson, Avan Jogia, Luke Wilson, Thomas Middleditch and Zoey Deutch). BTW: Bill Murray is back, but not as a zombie. Thank the Lord for clever flashbacks.
What works here worked in the first film: Harrelson is masterful at delivering his dry, everyman humor. (His respectful nods to Elvis Presley are even funnier than his expressed love for Twinkies.) Eisenberg is equally effective as a zombie-apocalypse Jean Shepherd. The two click as well as any Stan and Ollie wannabes could.
On the down side, one could argue that, despite its better traits, "Double Tap" doesn't inject anything new into the genre, but at least (unlike the recent "The Dead Don't Die") it doesn't get all damn preachy and divisive. "Double Tap" works because it knows it's another zombie comedy, no more or less. It's also an ideal submission for Halloween. That's good enough for me. If you're a zombie fan who likes a lotta bite in your survivalist fight, it'll be good enough for you.
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