I was supposed to write about Zombieland: Double Tap a few weeks back but got delayed nursing a sick Princess; I had a received a review copy and I was excited to put on the Blu-ray, having missed out on the chance to see it in the theatres back in the fall. I think a lot of people did, because it wasn’t a huge box office hit. Critics seemed to feel that the movie didn’t move the needle much from the original 2009 film, and Zombieland: Double Tap only made $73 million in North America, $2 million less than what the first film made when it was released.
Making that sort of money on a $41 million budget is definitely solid if unspectacular, and seeing as how poorly horror films have been doing in 2020 so far, that performance is not bad. But with a loaded returning cast of Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin and the legacy of the well-regarded first film, you’d think Zombieland: Double Tap would have done a bit better than it did.
Having finally watched the film, it seems to me as though there was nothing unique to make a larger audience run out to Zombieland: Double Tap. Apart from a breakout, hugely entertaining performance from series newcomer Zoey Deutch as Madison, the film felt like more of the same. There’s something positive about the familiar, but in a decade of zombie films and television shows, Zombieland: Double Tap just feels like a pleasant regurgitation of the first film.
There are some decent making of features and outtakes on the Zombieland: Double Tap Blu-ray that makes it clear how much fun the cast had reuniting with one another, and the movie works well enough at home that I after watching it, I didn’t feel any regret that I hadn’t seen it on the big screen. However, at the same time, I also didn’t feel any need to see a third film or even revisit the second again.
The first Zombieland is a classic of the genre; anything else is just inessential extras.
