ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP (2019) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

zombieland: double tap (2019) movie

Genre              |   Horror Comedy

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   99 minutes

Released         |   17 October 2019

cast

Woody Harrelson ... Tallahassee
​Emma Stone ... Wichita
Abigail Breslin ... Little Rock
Jesse Eisenberg ... Columbus
Zoey Deutch ... Madison
Luke Wilson ... Albuquerque
​Thomas Middleditch ... Flagstaff

director

Ruben Fleischer

writer

Dave Callaham ... (screenplay)
Rhett Reese ... (screenplay)
Paul Wernick ... (screenplay)

cinematographer

Chung-hoon Chung ​

music

David Sardy

film editor

Dirk Westervelt

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box office result

Worldwide               $​122,810,399

Australia                 $​​4,130,949

North America        $​73,123,082

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movie minutiae

In ZOMBIELAND (2009), Woody Harrelson is always on the look out for Twinkies and is extremely upset when he finds a truck full of Snowballs instead. In the show CHEERS, specifically the episode titled 'Rat Girl,' Woody Harrelson's character states that he thinks Snowballs are better than Twinkies because they are 'bite-sized' and shoves a whole Snowball in his mouth.

​It was hinted that Jesse Eisenberg's character, Columbus, will have a set of new rules coming up for this film.

​In mid January, the plot of the film specifically reveals the types of zombies that will appear in the film. Those include: Homers (dumb ones), Hawkings (smart ones) and Ninjas (deadly ones).

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ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP (2019) MOVIE IMAGES

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Posters

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ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP (2019) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family.

ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 17 October 2019

Pop ​Movee Rating

ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP may not possess the same novelty value as its 2009 predecessor, but, like an afternoon catching up with old friends once every few years, there’s some comfort in the knowledge that no matter how bizarre the Zombieland Universe might become, Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock are fundamentally the same people the last time you saw them...

Fresh off the commercial success of VENOM (2018), earning an unexpected $856 million at the global Box Office,  Director Ruben Fleischer has been rewarded by Sony Pictures with an opportunity to revisit the franchise that helped push him to the next level back to the next level of professional recognition back in 2009.

Fleischer’s career has been eclectic, to say the least…

His work has been primarily in the Comedy genre, but his subject matter always sits on the fringes of society. Whether he’s writing, producing or directing, Fleischer likes to play on the edges, freeing him to explore bizarre people up against the odds in extraordinary settings.

BETWEEN TWO FERNS WITH ZACH GALIFIANAKIS, FUNNY OR DIE, GANGSTER SQUAD or VENOM. In one way or another, they’re all about extreme characters.

For ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP, Fleischer has marshalled a couple of previous collaborators and one of Hollywood’s most in-demand writers to help deliver a worthy sequel...

ZOMBIELAND writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick also return, having penned two DEADPOOL movies in between (among other projects). Action specialist scribe Dave Callaham, whose writing credits include THE EXPENDABLES trilogy & GODZILLA (2014), also gets a screenplay credit for DOUBLE TAP.  Callaham is on a real roll at the moment; his upcoming credits include WONDER WOMAN 1984 (2020), the upcoming Marvel film SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (2021), plus a fourth entry into THE EXPENDABLES franchise.

DOUBLE TAP does not lack for writing talent…

The film opens with a quick exposition voice-over from Jesse Eisenberg’s Columbus, providing a very fast breakdown of what’s happened in the ten years since the last film.

Like all things, the ten years between the two films has seen the Zombies evolve into different varieties, ranging from the “Homer” (based on, you guessed it, Homer Simpson) to the “Hawking”. (Yep, you guessed right again…)

Despite the challenges represented by some of the more evolved Zombies, the anti-heroic quartet from the first film have mellowed a little and settled down at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, The White House. 

Life, it seems, is pretty good…

That is until Abigail Breslin’s Little Rock and her big sister, Emma Stone’s Wichita, decide things have become just a bit too mundane for their liking.

Little Rock yearns for company her own age, while a marriage proposal from Jesse Eisenberg’s Columbus gives Wichita pause for consideration about what she really wants from life given the broader Zombie problem confronting what remains of humanity.

The departure of Little Rock and Wichita opens the door to introduce the sequel’s best new character, Madison, played with air-headed glee by Zoey Deutch. Despite some serious intellectual shortcomings, Madison has managed to keep out of the way of Zombies, albeit by way of living in a refrigerated room. 

She figured the Zombies wouldn’t like the cold, and she was right.

Rosario Dawson also joins proceedings for this new film, but her part, as the Elvis-loving Nevada, doesn’t leave quite the same impression as Deutch and her unexpected reappearance late in the film makes her feel a lot like a plot device.

Nevada does provide Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee with someone new to bounce off against and, like the first film, it’s his cantankerous reaction to the endless stream of ridiculous events around him that help to make DOUBLE TAP as funny as it is violent.

Woody Harrelson is one of filmed entertainment’s most underrated performers.

There aren’t many performers who can switch between genres and mediums (film & TV) as comfortably as what he does. Everyone’s been watching him year-in-year-out since he joined the cast of CHEERS as Ted Danson’s Bar Man sidekick, Woody, back in 1985. For thirty-four years, Harrelson has taken on roles that only a genuinely gifted actor could pull off.

Mickey Knox in NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994). Larry Flynt in THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT (1996). Carson Wells in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007). Haymitch Abernathy in THE HUNGERS GAMES movies. Merritt McKinney in NOW YOU SEE (2013) and its 2016 sequel.

The range and complexity of the roles vary, but they are all distinguished by Harrelson’s performance.

DOUBLE TAP is a chance for Harrelson to have some fun with a character, but there’s also a more serious side to Tallahassee, particularly when it comes to the responsibility for Little Rock. In spite of the fact that he’s not actually related to her, and she’s accompanied by her older sister, being the group’s patriarch, Tallahassee sees it as his job to make sure the youngest of their group gets the best possible chance for a normal upbringing (given the circumstances).

Tallahassee’s importance comes into focus during the film’s Final Act when he risks his own life to save not just his own “family”, but an entire community of clueless Hippies whose own stupidity has made them a target for a group of the new “T 800” (yes, it’s a TERMINATOR reference) zombies, who, like their namesake, will not stop until they have completed their mission (or had their heads squashed until it resembles a puddle of goo).

Fans of the first film will not be disappointed by ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP. 

It’s not quite as inventive as Fleischer’s 2009 film, but there’s enough in the story to keep viewers interested and, surprisingly, the story manages to keep the fate of a primary character hanging in the balance during the film’s climax. Unlike other franchises, ZOMBIELAND doesn’t mind knocking off important characters for the sake of dramatic impact, the finale actually feels as one or more of the main group may exit at any moment.

The film also has a great end credit sequence, touching on one of the great moments delivered by the 2009 film…

Make sure you stay to the very end…

ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP is not the best film of 2019, but it’s far from the worst. Director Ruben Flesicher delivers a worthy follow-up to his 2009 and Woody Harrelson does a great job as the proverbial glue that keeps this unique, wild bunch fighting the good fight against the ever-evolving Zombie plague that continues to consume their universe!

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ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP MOVIE (2019) USEFUL LINKS

Zombieland: Double Tap - Wikipedia
Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) - IMDb
Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) - Rotten Tomatoes
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