Zombieland Doubletap is searching for Brains

With less nuance than the first movie, the sequel can still be a good time when it embraces its bizarreness

by Jacob Schermerhorn

When Zombieland premiered in 2009, it was a different time for film. Avatar surpassed Titanic at the box office with over two billion dollars, Joker director Todd Phillips was still the guy who directed the first Hangover movie, Katheryn Bigelow became the first female director to win an Oscar for The Hurt Locker, and Jesse Eisenberg starred in not one, but two movies with the antecedent of “-land.” (Anyone remember Adventureland?) The most recent prominent zombie movie back then was 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, another comedy poking fun at horror tropes just like 2009’s Zombieland.

Ten years later, in 2019 things have changed.

Eisenberg’s Zombieland Doubletap character Columbus acknowledges the huge gap in time by questioning why the audience is even listening to him during the opening monologue. Through that voiceover, we are caught up with the characters from the first movie, the gun-toting macho-man Tallahassee (Woody Haralson), no-nonsense buzzkill Wichita (Emma Stone), and her now late “teenageish” sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin).

We find the gang settled down at the White House primarily because of Columbus’ desire for domesticity. Columbus’ push his efforts toward a home life further when he asks Wichita to get married. She reacts badly to the proposal and takes off with Little Rock who is dealing with the overbearing father figure of Tallahassee. What follows is the kind of expected road trip movie to Graceland and a hippie commune named Babylon filled with the requisite goofy hijinks and zombie splattering kills.

Along the way, the main gang meets up with some new side characters. Madison (Zoey Deutsch) is a ditzy blonde who drives a further wedge between Columbus and Wichita as the “obviously a bad fit” rebound girlfriend. Nevada (Rosario Dawson) survives the zombie apocalypse in an Elvis-themed tourist trap and forms an eyerollingly-instant romantic connection with Tallahassee. Berkeley (Avan Jorgia) is a hypocritical hippie slimeball who enchants Little Rock by claiming songwriting credit for Bob Dylan’s catalog while criticizing Elvis for stealing from black artists.

Unfortunately, these new characters never evolve beyond one-note. Madison is stupid and will always get them into trouble, Nevada is a badass lady with a big gun, and Berkeley is a performatively woke coward. Their stories of survival would be intriguing (Did Madison survive just by eating Pinkberry for ten years? How did Nevada end up in Graceland and why does she like Elvis so much? What on earth does Berkeley’s “conflict avoidance” look like in the face of zombie hordes?)

But for some reason Zombieland Doubletap is not interested in their stories. In the first Zombieland, Tallahassee achieved true three dimensionality when Columbus discovered that his friend was not grieving for a dead puppy, but a dead son. Tallahassee wasn’t just a loud and violent redneck, he was a hurt and mourning father. Too bad Madison, Nevada and Berkeley are not given that same chance to be real people.

However, putting aside character development, this movie shines when it dips into the zany and bizarre. One-note characters who require no humanizing development are Albuquerque (Luke Wilson) and Flagstaff (Thomas Middleditch). These two survivors are brief bright spots as bizzaro world alternates for Tallahassee and Columbus. It’s a treat to see these four skilled actors butt heads aggressively and passively as they stare into a fun house mirror. Perhaps because he’s already been at it for years on Silicon Valley, Middleditch is doing especially great work with a spot-on Eisenberg impression.

Moments like those, or a random takedown of the concept of Uber while roadtripping, or a mid-credits scene with a favorite celebrity killing zombies, are what make Zombieland Doubletap worth it. As Columbus’ rule 32 states: “Enjoy the little things.”