Pros: Favorite actors; some really good jokes; post-credits scene Cons: Self-quoting and self-repetition; very weak script; disregard for the rules developed in the first film; the forcedness and unnaturalness of many scenes; unfunny jokes Zombieland: Double Tap / “Zombieland: Double Shot”
Genre black comedy
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Woody Harrelson (Tallahassee), Jesse Eisenberg (Columbus), Emma Stone (Wichita), Abigail Breslin (Little Rock), Rosario Dawson (Nevada), Zoey Deutch (Madison), Luke Wilson (Albuquerque), Thomas Middleditch (Flagstaff) ), Avan Jogia (Berkeley), etc.
Студии Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures
Year of release 2019
IMDb website
It’s hard to say why the first Zombieland earned the status of a cult film that almost everyone loves. An unusual approach to the boring zombie theme? An excellent ensemble of actors that has not yet been spoiled by fame? Really good jokes that poke fun at zombie movie clichés? All this and one more small but very important thing… the film was made with enthusiasm, with courage, with soul. Unfortunately, these words cannot be said about Zombieland: Double Tap.
It seems like everyone from director Ruben Fleischer, now known only as the “Venom director” (Zombieland and Gangster Squad, that’s good, but 850 million is 850 million), to screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (both worked on the original Zombieland, Deadpool and Deadpool 2), have managed to burn out quite a bit in the 10 years since the release of the original. 10 years of production hell is a terrible thing.
With actors the situation is slightly different. Over the past years, Emma Stone has managed to earn her Oscar for La La Land and was deservedly nominated for two more (Birdman and The Favorite). Young Abigail Breslin grew up, became a victim of sexual abuse and stopped taking care of herself, gaining excess weight. Extremely popular as a child, including an Oscar nomination at the age of 10 for her role in Little Miss Sunshine, she now appears in supporting films. Jesse Eisenberg continues to actively act, including in blockbusters, but there have been no breakthroughs on the level of The Social Network in his career for a long time. Perhaps Woody Harrelson fared best, adding to his already Oscar nominations for The People vs. Larry Flynt and The Messenger is fresh from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and has starred in a number of big-budget films over the past 10 years, such as The Hunger Games trilogy, War for the Planet of the Apes and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
We have no doubt that the actors, director and writers were happy to meet on the set 10 years later, reminisce about the good old days and generally have a great time, but it didn’t benefit the film. Because you can’t step into the same river twice, the world has changed significantly in 10 years, but Zombieland: Double Tap seems to be stuck in the early 2000s.
The problem with the sequel is that it simply has nothing to add to what was said 10 years ago. The only thing that remains is self-irony and a little forced black humor. Seriously. Where the original Zombieland was funny, Zombieland: Double Tap doesn’t make you laugh at all. The film became like an adaptation of a collection of old jokes. Here is a series of jokes about the standard dumb blonde; here is an anecdote, or rather, two, that begin with the phrase “The husband/wife suddenly returns home…”; here’s a series of jokes about hipsters… Zombieland: Double Tap’s attempts to make viewers laugh look pathetic. Yes, you can, if you wish, call all this humor from the era of post-irony, aimed at young people unfamiliar with the classics (you won’t believe it, half the people in the hall, it seems, have not seen the original film), but, excuse me, in this way any unfunny thing can be attributed to post-irony nonsense.
Honestly, I don’t know what’s worse about Zombieland: Double Tap – the bad jokes, the completely disastrous script that lacks any logic, the repeated use of cheap Deus ex machina techniques, or the fact that the film’s characters regularly break their own rules and basic rules of survival in the world. time of the zombie apocalypse. Watching some episodes of the film in which the characters miraculously do not die due to their own stupidity is simply physically painful. Well, the fight between the doubles in the Elvis house-museum is the height of idiocy, which for some reason is presented as a very funny and original episode.
No, Zombieland: Double Tap certainly has its positive aspects. It’s great to see your favorite actors back together, some of the jokes are genuinely funny, plus there’s a post-credits scene that’s worth sticking around for. Otherwise, this is a tortured sequel that no one needs. As painful as it is to admit, everyone would have been better off if it had never happened.
Conclusion:
It would be better if there wasn’t a second part of Zombieland at all
