2019’s Zombieland 2:
Double Tap, directed by Ruben Fleischer.
Starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone,
Abigail Breslin, Zoey Deutch, Rosario Dawson, Avan Jogia, Luke Wilson, Thomas
Middleditch, and Bill Murray.
What is it about?
Set in the present after a zombie apocalypse, mankind is an
endangered species and far flung in between masses of zombie hordes. Survivors
Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma
Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) return to kick more zombie ass and argue
with one another. But after a successful occupation of the now defunct White
House, the group begins to grow restless. Little Rock wants to spread her wings
and enjoy her young adulthood, while Wichita chafes from the proposed
affections of Columbus. It leads to Little Rock going missing after meeting an
unemployed pacifist who at one point attended college, and the group travels across
hostile territory find her. They add to their ranks when they stumble across
Madison (Zoey Deutch), who despite her humble origin story may be more
resilient than the gang believes, and the zombie hijinks continue as the group
tries to find Little Rock in Babylon.
Why is it worth seeing?
No zombie/borderline horror franchise celebrates the value
of rules as much as Zombieland.
Peppered throughout the pair of outings, literally on the screen, are the
various commands that the more nebbish characters embrace to not only stay
alive, but pay homage to the countless zombie films that came before it, and
maintain that dorky sense of je ne sais quoi, that it so fervently cherishes. As
the film’s opening credits establish, there is no greater fun than that of the
brain bashing of the undead, and several times the film depicts the grisly individual
acts that warrant such frivolous awards such as Zombie Kill of the Year.
Despite a film featuring a great deal of squashed brains, it’s best not to
think about it too hard- you may develop a headache from the lack of gray
matter. You could also miss some of the laughs.
Allegedly chief among the evolution that the film pays homage to, is that of developing zombies. Explaining lovingly (and graphically) in the beginning of the film, we see that the zombies have developed into smarter and faster versions of themselves. In theory, it should up the stakes- but little seems to disturb the gang’s happy go lucky vibes. That is, until the comedic highlight of the middle act- the introduction of Tallahassee and Columbus’ semi-clones, that of Albuquerque (Luke Wilson), and Flagstaff (Thomas Middleditch). The resulting conversations, mediated by Nevada (a welcome Rosario Dawson), are comedic gold. Also pleasurable, is Zoey Deutch’s take on the character of Madison. While initially her valley girl mannerisms are enough to grate one’s teeth, she grows on you and is highly underrated.
Allegedly chief among the evolution that the film pays homage to, is that of developing zombies. Explaining lovingly (and graphically) in the beginning of the film, we see that the zombies have developed into smarter and faster versions of themselves. In theory, it should up the stakes- but little seems to disturb the gang’s happy go lucky vibes. That is, until the comedic highlight of the middle act- the introduction of Tallahassee and Columbus’ semi-clones, that of Albuquerque (Luke Wilson), and Flagstaff (Thomas Middleditch). The resulting conversations, mediated by Nevada (a welcome Rosario Dawson), are comedic gold. Also pleasurable, is Zoey Deutch’s take on the character of Madison. While initially her valley girl mannerisms are enough to grate one’s teeth, she grows on you and is highly underrated.
In fact, for a (at times) gory zombie film, it’s surprising how much love there is for the human characters. While it’s commonplace to feature the running undead getting deader from the living than ever through various violent techniques, the sequel has great love for humans of all stripes. However misleading, its tacit mission statement may be as well meaning as the no weapons rule of the hippy cult the characters find themselves trapped in. It’s sweet to see- and further throws into contrast other zombie IP that focuses more on the realistic implications of what a zombie apocalypse (lonely, desperate, and brutal comes to mind) would bother to look and feel like.
Packed with images of zombies lovingly getting disemboweled and squashed, don’t bother thinking about the gaggle of logistics and real world impossibilities of the film (it has to set a world record for longest scenes of people driving without actually looking at the road, and I’m not sure how electricity still works), not to mention casting challenges (such as Jesse Eisenberg being charming, Emma Stone being jealous and sarcastic, and Woody Harrellson trying to convince us he’s physically up for the rigours of going up and down stairs)- instead, stay for the film’s love of its characters, the welcome comedic banter, and end credit’s Garfield tribute. You’ll never want to get Murray’d again.
No comments:
Post a Comment