Zombieland Double Tap Goes Splat - is that good or bad?

I was extremely excited to see the 2nd installment of the Zombieland movies. Absolutely loved the first one. The Zombie kills of the week, the humor that interlaces throughout the movie, rules of surviving the zombie apocalypse, the colorful characters we are introduced to for the ride.

In my experience, sequels can do one of a few things. Sometimes they can be extreme bombs where you wish they never made the 2nd movie, or 3rd, or 4th, and so on. Such as The Descent 2, Tremors 2-infinity, etc. Other times you end up with an almost better, more matured sequel than the original, and I feel this happens less often than the previously mentioned. It’s hard to continue, or duplicate, something that was so amazing to begin with. But once in a while there’s success, such as….And other times it feels like the movies following the original is good enough to be liked, but nowhere near the expectations of reaching the level of the 1st movie.

As I watched the beginning of Zombieland Double Tap, I started to get a little concerned that this one was going to fall into the category “why did they make the sequel, noooooo!!!” The humor and story felt a little like they were trying too hard to be like the first movie, but falling short. I was worried the entire movie would be this way. It felt they were just trying too hard at everything!

Then we meet Madison. A new character who is a love interest in Columbus, and as ditzy as you could possibly make her. It was a little over the top at first with her voice, her lack of brains, and demeanor. I thought the movie was in real trouble.

However, as the story progresses everything smooths out from the storyline to the humor, and so-forth. Madison becomes the brunt of most the jokes, and it is actually done very well and adds a new layer to the crew we fell in love with in the first movie. And the story itself improves. Although some of the characters, and situations they’ve gotten themselves into, are a little over the top at times, the movie becomes really enjoyable. Plenty of zombie fights and gore to sate that appetite. And the characters have graduated from Kill of the Week to Kill of the Year. And it’s all presented in good bloody Zombieland fashion.

Going into the movie I knew it couldn’t possibly be as good as the first Zombieland. It will certainly be one I like to watch often. But…it didn’t blow my socks off like I had hoped. I give it a solid 6 out of 10 and look forward to seeing it again at home.