A zombie apocalypse sure has its problems, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t at least enjoy yourself. Zombieland was a welcome surprise to the undead genre, offering the audiences of 2009 barrels of laughs instead of gory violence. Sure, seeing the zombies get killed on screen was satisfying but watching the colorful cast of characters was something that made Zombieland very unique and a lot of fun. Well, it’s been ten years and the long-awaited and overdue sequel is finally out and the question that’s on everyone’s mind is… has the wait been worth it? 

We return to Zombieland and once again we are introduced to what’s been going on by Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg). The world is still a mess and the zombies are all around. This time though, the zombies have been evolving. Things are different now and they have adapted to those changes. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) are all still one big happy family (although happy may not be the best of words here) and arrive to seek shelter in the best of places: the White House. Everyone else is dead, so they make it their own. They have a lot of fun killing zombies, annoying each other and dealing with their lives. Columbus and Wichita are still together, Little Rock is all grown up and eager to meet people her own age while Tallahassee is itching for a chance to be the lone wolf again.  

I won’t divulge the plot details but be sure that these characters are in for a wild ride. There are plenty of laughs along the way and I found myself bursting with laughter many times during the screening. Even the audience seemed to enjoy themselves but a question did linger in my mind. Why did we have to wait so long? It was hard not to compare all the laughs from the original while watching this sequel and I have to say that, while Double Tap isn’t fresh with its ideas or as funny, it doesn’t have to be either. Zombieland Double Tap is still a lot of fun and one thing that does make up for the lack of fresh ideas are the numerous cameos that we get to see, and there are a plenty.  

I will mention one character that stood out to me and that is the character of Madison (Zoey Deutch), a stereotypical dumb blonde who joins our beloved family and annoys basically everyone except for Columbus. I enjoyed seeing this fresh face on the screen (my first time seeing her) and I thought her presence onscreen annoyed the characters but made the audience laugh which worked for me. With the exception of all the fun cameos, there is a great deal of zombie action for all the undead fans. Many are shot, some are beaten and numerous are run over. There’s even a moment where no one has a gun and they scramble to figure out a plan.  

Now, despite all the laughs and fun that I had there are a couple of issues. When the evolved zombies are first mentioned they’re cool to witness yet hardly feel present in the film. They do make some appearances, although I would’ve wanted to see more of them. The plot itself could’ve been a bit more interesting but I won’t complain too much because at least the screenwriters (from the first movie) wrote a lot of good jokes and offered a funny time at the theater. Director Reuben Fleischer returns to helm this project and once again does very good work. It’s an improvement over his last film Venom and he brings the same energy as he did in the first Zombieland. Plus, seeing the return of the cast is a real treat but, once the end credits start to roll, be sure to stay because there’s a surprise that I’m sure everyone will enjoy.  

Verdict: 4 out of 5 Stars

Zombieland: Double Tap took too long to be released and, while that’s disappointing, I really enjoyed this sequel. It has a lot of laughs, the zombie makeup looks fantastic, and there are several surprises along the way. I say that if you’re a fan of Zombieland then you’ll like this sequel, even if we waited for so long. Nevertheless, Zombieland: Double Tap is glorious fun from start to finish thanks to a funny script, the return of some truly great characters and revisiting the land that is ruled by the undead. In a time when it seems that the zombie genre is running out of ideas, I think that Double Tap could offer audiences a grand time at the theater.