Zombieland: Double Tap (aKa Zombieland 2) is a 2019 horror comedy film produced & directed by Ruben Fleischer (Venom, Zombieland, Gangster Squad, & 30 Minutes or Less). It’s a direct sequel to the 2009 film. In 2013, a television pilot was made for Amazon but it wasn’t picked up. It was written by Paul Wernick (Deadpool 1/2, Zombieland/Zombieland TV Show, Life, & G.I. Joe: Retaliation), Dave Callaham (The Expendables franchise, Doom, Wonder Woman 1984, & Jean-Claude Van Johnson), & Rhett Reese (Zombieland/Zombieland TV Show, 6 Underground, Deapool 1/2, & Life). It was produced by Rebecca Rivo (Escape Room & The Deuce) & Jack Heller (Dragged Across Concrete, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Bone Tomahawk, & Bad Milo) for Columbia Pictures. This sequel was first developed in 2010. The budget was an estimated $45 million & it grossed $121.8 million worldwide at the box office!!!!
Ten years after the events of the first film, survivors Tallahassee (played by Woody Harrelson from Zombieland, Natural Born Killers, Solo, & War for the Planet of the Apes), Columbus (played by: Jesse Eisenberg from Zombieland, The Social Network, Batman v. Superman, & Now You See Me 1/2), Wichita (played by: Emma Stone from Zombieland, Superbad, The Amazing Spider-Man 1/2, & Maniac), & Little Rock (played by: Abigail Breslin from Zombieland, Little Miss Sunshine, Signs, & Final Girl) have become experts when it comes to killing various zombies. They set up their new home in the abandoned White House. Columbus decides to propose to Wichita using the Hope Diamond & Tallahassee rebuffs Little Rock’s hopes of starting her own family. The next morning, Tallahassee finds a note from Wichita & Little Rock saying they have left. A month later, Columbus is startled by a ditzy blonde named Madison (played by: Zoey Deutch from The Professor, The Disaster Artist, Dirty Grandpa, & Why Him?) at the mall.
Returning & discovering Columbus has slept with Madison, Wichita explains that Little Rock has left for Graceland with a pacifist from Berkeley (played by: Avan Jogia from Shaft). She informs the group of more agile & durable “super zombies”. The group heads toward Graceland to bring back Little Rock. The group finds “the Beast”, Tallahassee’s modified presidential limousine stolen by Little Rock at an Elvis-themed motel run by Nevada (played by: Rosario Dawson from Clerks II, Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, Kids, & Sin City). The group awakens to find the Beast being crushed by a monster truck driven by Albuquerque (played by: Luke Wilson from Old School, The Goldfinch, 3:10 to Yuma, Vacancy, & Rushmore) & Flagstaff (played by: Thomas Middleditch from Replicas, Tag, The Final Girls, & Silicon Valley). The group arrives at Babylon, gives up their weapons to join Little Rock. The super “T-800” zombies surround the Babylon community. Since they all melted & got rid of their weapons, they are trapped inside now defenseless fighting for their lives against the undead!!!!
Zombieland: Double Tap was much better than expected especially after it’s 10 year hiatus from the original. Not sure why they even wasted all that time trying to produce that cheap & generic looking television show on Amazon before this. Generally, when it takes that long to make a sequel like this it suffers from a few things. The entire cast actually came back which included an Oscar winner & several nominees since then. Their chemistry was still amazing here like they never left & that’s beyond impressive considering it’s been forever since they made the first one. Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, & Emma Stone all looked exactly the same. Abigail Breslin has changed a lot compared to when they started. They all know exactly what kind of feature this is so their performances are very fun in this. They don’t go too over the top or anything like that but they deliver the perfect balance of horror & comedy in Double Tap. Rosario Dawson, Luke Wilson, Thomas Middleditch, Zoey Deutch, & Avan Jogia were added to the cast for this sequel.
I really enjoyed Rosario Dawson’s character in this. The Tallahassee & Columbus clones had some hilarious interactions with the originals. Ryan Reynolds almost played the Luke Wilson role & that would have been amazing! I wasn’t a big fan of either Madison or Berkeley to be honest. I thought the script was on point, this follow up was exactly what I expected. The special fx was top notch & it had some nice gory moments with the variety of zombies here. I love that they did a similar opening with a different Metallica track for Double Tap, that was one of the best parts in the original. Bill Murray (Ghostbusters franchise, Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, & Garfield franchise) also returned in a cameo for this movie & he stole the show in his short appearance. Lots of references to past films & some creative dialogue to get you laughing out loud with the quickness. I had so much fun with this film, it was very entertaining & the replay value was strong here. I hope they make this a trilogy like they teased at the end but they need to make it quicker than 10 years this time. HAHA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Sony! This 2160p (2.39:1) transfer with HDR10 looks fantastic in 4K. Plus this release is IMAX enhanced so it makes the experience even greater at home. Everything shows up in great detail & the colors really pop here. It has a nice variety of characters & locations that test out the format when it comes to the visuals. It has so many different audio options which includes English: DTS:X, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1, & Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1 on this UHD. The audio on this 4K release sounds amazing, it’s definitely one to show off your home theater set up because it roars through the speakers. The dialogue is crystal clear, all the zombie madness has a killer boost to it, & the awesome soundtrack is elevated here. It has a massive amount of subtitles which includes English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Mandarin (Simplified), Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, & Thai. This is already one of the best technical releases of 2020, very impressed with the picture & sound for this 4K!!!!
Let’s discuss the special features from Sony for this UHD release! “Audio Commentary” with director Ruben Fleischer. The director covers all the basics here. He chats about how long it took to make this sequel. He talks about the cast & the main characters returning for this follow up. He goes through his experience making this. It’s a nice little inside look into the production. “Zombieland Ad Council” is under a minute & it shows you how to plan for the apocalypse. These are the only two extras featured on the 4K disc & the rest are located on the blu ray. “Extended Bloopers & Outtakes” is almost 5 minutes & it features some hilarious goofs from the set. 9 “Deleted Scenes” that run almost 13 minutes, it includes The Beast Is Gone, Van Ride, Would Have Never Met, In Bed, Breakfast at Babylon, Car Ride, Melting Gun, There’s a Party Tonight, & Alternate Proposal. I really enjoyed these extra moments from the film but I can see why they didn’t make it. It’s still always one of my favorite bonus materials found on a release. “The Doppelgängers” is a little over 7 minutes. It has interviews with director Ruben Fleischer, actors Jesse Eisenberg, Luke Wilson, & Thomas Middleditch. They joke about being poor man versions of the original characters. They bring up their similarities plus some differences. They bring up the fun fact that those were the original names for Woody & Jesse’s characters for the first film before they changed them. They chat about their experience. They talk about the cast & their scenes in this. “A Day with Bill Murray” is a little over 3 minutes. It has interviews with cast & crew. It talks about how the legendary comedian got involved with the first one. They chat about bringing him back for this follow up & he talks about his experience. “The Rides of Zombieland” is a little over 4 minutes. It has interviews with cast including several main actors & crew. It focuses on all of the cool rides in the film like Beast, The Monster Truck, RV, Minivan, Clown Car, & Elvis’s classic ride. They chat a little but about each one. They say the monster truck was actually supposed to be in the original film. “Rules for Making a Zombie Film” is a little over 9 minutes. It has interviews with the crew. They chat about the original ideas & concepts they had for this follow up that were changed. They talk about making a sequel after all these years. They bring up the production design, scenes, action, & rules for the feature. They highlight the special fx & variety of zombies in Double Tap. “Making Babylon” is a little over 5 minutes. It has interviews with the crew. It goes over the production design for this location. They chat about the important final spot for this sequel. It’s a cool inside look into the hippie commune created fot Double Tap. “New Blood” is almost 5 minutes. It has interviews with all the new cast members plus several of the older ones. They break down each new role added to the Zombieland universe. They chat about the character & the actor playing them. They have fun talking about their experience here. “Doppelgänger Fight” is a little over 2 minutes. It’s a quick behind the scenes look at some action from the production. It also includes a slipcover, a digital code, & a blu ray copy of the release. It had a few store exclusives. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
Related
