Movie review: Zombieland: Double Tap

Why has Zombieland suddenly got up and started moving again?

Especially when it doesn't seem to have much to say. It just makes some familiar sounds.

Double Tap is not terrible, but it's not what it could be.

It feels like the resurrected script for a sequel that should have happened much sooner.

Aside from Abigail Breslin hitting adulthood, it may as well be 2009 again.

Well, there is one touted difference in that some zombies have evolved. We are introduced to super-smart, super-stealthy and super-dumb zombies at the beginning. But then it seems the film forgets to include them again to any effect.

Zombieland's central gag was The Rules – Columbus' meta to-do list referencing logical tasks too often ignored in other zombie/monster films.

Yet though we've had many zombie properties since the first film– including The Walking Dead TV series – apparently there is nothing more to be said on the subject.

The characters have not changed, which is more annoying because the twist in Tallahassee's back story has been completely forgotten and he's just back to being a blustery redneck.

And then there are the leaps of logic how some characters could survive for a decade under apocalypse conditions. Yes, it's a comedy but hey, it still needs rules.

Still, Zoey Deutch and Rosario Dawson are both welcome injections of fun and attitude. Deutch's ditzy Madison arguably steals the show.

We really needed more of her to counteract a listless Emma Stone who, like her character, looks ready to leave.

Like the first film, Double Tap is light on horror. However, some scenes are very hard to stomach.

Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch turning up as "mirrors" of Harrelson and Eisenberg was excruciating.

If you can take Eisenberg's twitching neurotic delivery only in small doses, try him and the similarly twitchy Middleditch nerding out.

I wanted to claw my way out of the cinema.

That said, there are some scattered laugh-out-loud moments – mostly from Deutch (she really is the MVP) and in one instance, an Italian zombie kill.

The charm of the cast – the ever-watchable Harrellson doing the heavy lifting – just about carries the film.

However, it is worth remembering that in the rules of Zombieland, the Double Tap is used to make sure something is definitely dead.

It would be unfortunate if that applies to this franchise.

SCORE: 2.5/5

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FILM: Zombieland: Double Tap

STARRING: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Zoey Deutch, Rosario Dawson

DIRECTOR: Ruben Fleischer

THE SKINNY: Columbus (Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Harrelson), Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Breslin) find life among the zombies getting staid. The girls run off, with Little Rock falling for a pacifist with claims of an enclave of survivors.

RATING: M18