By Grace Conley

“Did I travel back to 2009?”

I really, really loved the original Zombieland. I think it’s smart, quick-witted, over the top in the right way, funny and has a lot of heart. Zombieland Double Tap lost a lot of the charm that the 2009 movie had. It’s not as funny or as heartfelt, it’s just a continuation of a movie that could have been perfect if left untouched. But don’t get me wrong I still really enjoyed Double Tap.

I think the cast is amazing. Emma Stone alone is one of my favorite people on the planet and it still has that awesome zombie movie fun vibe. I guess my biggest problem is that this movie didn’t age. It’s still making the same type of jokes, they are just less strong. The movie uses played out stereotypes and fails to develop the characters any further. There is some mild conflict between the squad, but it all works out in the end as you know it would.

It feels as if there are no stakes. What made the first movie so awesome was that it took place at the beginning of the apocalypse and people were still figuring stuff out. There was a central goal. The relationships were clear, new and easy to root for. The sequel complicates all of that and not in a very thought provoking way. The movie try’s to regain that new magic by throwing in some new characters but they are disposable and not fully developed. Like Avan Jogia’s character or Thomas Middleditch.

The movie does have some highlights, like its fun road trip scenes, gruesome fight scenes, fun callbacks to the first movie and a good use of flashback and narration. As sequels go, this is a pretty good one. It just doesn’t have the same magic as the first. I think the director, Ruben Fleischer, lost his edge.

The movie takes a really long time to get into a normal groove. The first thirty or so minutes are grueling, and it is clearly the fault of the director and the editor. The pacing is so off, the characters’ performances are so awkward and just not pleasing to watch. It gets better as time goes on but it’s very noticeable.

With that being said, while most of this was negative, I was consistently smiling and was on the edge of my seat.

Verdict

7 out of 10