I didn’t expect to like Zombie Land Double Tap as much as I did. (Spoilers)

I enjoyed the first movie when it came out. It felt like a pretty refreshing thing. Years later I rewatched it and didn’t end up liking it as much. I’m not sure why, but it didn’t entertain me as much. Then we get a sequel and I’m not too convinced I’ll like it all that much. And before I even get to see it I’m subjected to some opinions of others here and it they weren’t glowing reviews. So when I finally sat down to watch this movie last night I had no expectations of enjoying it. Maybe It’d get a few chuckles from me but that’s it.

But for a movie that I was so sure I wouldn’t like, and for a sequel that took ten years to release for a movie that wasn’t THAT big, I actually had a good time with it. (Again, spoilers ahead)

The plot is pretty pointless. There’s no real goal to anything they’re doing except for finding Little Rock. That’s literally the entire movie, just them trying to find her and she isn’t even in danger really. Now to be fair, the first movie was also like this. And I don’t actually have an issue with it. These movies now just feel like long episodes of a zombie tv show and it works. They’re not trying to save the world, they’re just existing in the world and will occasionally run into some hairy situations and get into some shenanigans. They’ll meet some colorful characters.

I was also surprised by how much I laughed at the movies most reliant gag, Madison. A super stereotypical, pink loving, dolled up, cutesy, Jersey girl talking dumb blonde. Honestly it was a real gamble making that character. It’s either gonna work really well, or not at all. And I’m sure it didn’t work for a lot of people, but it worked for me. She actually made me laugh a lot, and the moment she shows back up in the ice cream truck was a real "oh you’ve gotta be kidding me hahaha!" moment. Something I was also glad to see was how much they didn’t focus on Emma Stones and Jesse Eisenbergs romance beef. The foundation was your typical "guy and girl get into a fight and the guy thinks it’s over so he has sex with some new chick right when the original girl shows back up, and the whole rest of the movie is them bickering about it and the guy doing everything he can to win her back" nonsense. It’s just boring at this point. And what I liked about Double Tap is how much they don’t focus on it. It’s brought up here and there and they do get back together in the end, but it’s not this big extravagant thing.

The couple of issues I had with the movie were the poor special effects, and super over the top and unrealistic moments/set pieces. Some guy toppling the leaning tower of Pisa with a jack? Give me a break. The gang doing a huge flip with a monster truck? Yeah no. These movies are not the Fast & Furious. And since they waited 10 whole years to make a sequel both of the female characters do not look how they should. Emma Stone is noticeably older. So is Little Rock, plus she put on weight. None of it ruined the movie, but this stuff did stick out. And I’m not saying people aging or gaining weight is a bad thing. It’s just that the small gap in time between both movies time frames does not fit with how the actors look these days. My issue is just that they waited so long to make the movie.

Maybe it’s because I watched it with my father, and having someone else there helped elevate the humor and everything. Or maybe this is one of those very rare moments where they not only succeeded in making a good sequel, but also succeeded in making a good comedy movie. Too many comedies these days just suck. They’re either not funny, reply too much on making them into action movies that don’t at least have a ridiculous premise to start with and help excuse any unrealistic aspects, or a combo of both. So props to Double Tap, I enjoyed it.

Submitted January 24, 2020 at 09:16PM by Rossenaut https://ift.tt/38CqY8B