Zombieland: Double Tap is once again directed by Ruben Fleischer and it is the long-awaited sequel to 2009’s Zombieland. Ten Years have passed and it’s become very apparent that they’re all starting to get a bit tired of seeing each other everywhere, namely Little Rock who runs away with a hippie while a new herd of zombies are on the rise. Now it’s up to the gang and some newcomers to get Little Rock back and kill a ton of zombies along the way. The movie stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Zoey Deutch, Abigail Breslin, Avan Jogia and Rosario Dawson.

Zombieland is the perfect movie for someone who likes Halloween but doesn’t like scary movies. It’s got the perfect amount of fun, action, heart and thrills. Ten years have passed since that first movie came out and not a lot of movies came close to being another Zombieland. Nowadays comedies are rarely successful on the big-screen and the zombie genre has been played with many times with shows like The Walking Dead and iZombie but Double Tap couldn’t come during a better time, it’s October and this movie is easy money. However for a sequel to a cult classic that’s been ten years in the making, is this the only reason this sequel was created?

Zombieland: Double Tap is a fast-paced, massively entertaining sequel which incorporates the best aspects of the first movie and still make it work, ten years later. That being said, Double Tap doesn’t offer anything new when it comes to story and when it does, it never reaches it’s full potential. While the cast is just as great as last time, the story is too underwhelming when it had tons of potential. It never goes beyond being a simple zombie movie. Fans of the first movie will have fun, but they won’t find anything new to enjoy other than Zoey Deutch’s Madison who is arguably the movie’s saving grace. It’s perfectly entertaining and fast-paced but by the end you are left with the feeling that it was just fine.

The movie’s biggest flaw is easily the script. While the first Zombieland was known for focusing more on character than on action, the characters in this movie don’t change in a drastic way which deserves a sequel, they go on with their lives in a realistic and natural way. There is rarely any time for character development because of the lightning fast pace, this movie literally goes from action scene to funny scene and back to action scene. The story presented could have gone in many different ways but instead it chooses to be a rough copy of the first movie but this time the zombies are stronger. There are literally sub-plots which not only do they not add anything to the story but they get resolved in a couple scenes, namely the doppelganger Tallahassee and Columbus sub-plot which the movie could have used in such good ways but instead it wastes them for an action scene. When it comes to the main four characters, their story does move forward but not in a way that it deserves a second movie, it’s very small-scale.

All of that being said, Double Tap offers the same fast-paced fun, gore and humour as the first one did. Because of it’s fast-paced nature, the movie never has a dull moment, it’s consistently moving and in doing so, it’s easy to digest and just move along with whatever is happening, similar to the first movie. When it comes to humour, the cast is great however we’ve already seen that dynamic before, they use the same jokes and so it doesn’t come off as anything fresh or new, however Deutch’s Madison is incredibly funny and adds some energy to an otherwise tired dynamic. The performances are just as great as last time. I just wish the script gave them more to work with. Since we know these characters, it’s very easy to predict what jokes they’ll make. For example in Deadpool 2, we know the character, he’s foul, loud and over-the-top but the sequel didn’t just stick to that. It used slapstick, physical humour and it put the characters in much different situations than the first movie. Double Tap never leaves the first movie’s comfort zone.

Overall, Zombieland; Double Tap doesn’t quite hit the mark. The derivative story fails to add anything new to this world and when it tries to, it wastes it and never reaches it’s full potential. While the cast is great and features a standout performance from Zoey Deutch, the movie doesn’t really have a reason to exist. Zombieland fans might like it and audiences will definitely have a blast but I can’t imagine this movie escape being in the shadow of it’s much better predecessor.

RATING: D+