Zombies on Tap

We saw Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) because the first one wasn't bad, and Netflix was willing to send it to us.

When we left our intrepid crew, they had settled down to live in the White House. Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone have become a real couple, and Woody Harrelson is acting like a father to Abigail Breslin, who is growing up. But Breslin wants to meet guys her own age, and Stone isn't ready to commit to Eisenberg. So they take off, and of course, the boys follow.

They first pop into the local mall, where they meet ditsy survivor Zoe Deutch. She has been hiding in the freezer of a fro-yo shop, which is good because she is doesn't seem like she could survive on her own. She immediately wants to do Eisenberg, because, you know, last man on Earth, except Harrelson, the old guy. So she is coming along. Unless she turns into a zombie and has to be put down.

Meanwhile, the women meet pacificist manbun Avan Jogla, who Breslin has the hots for. The two of them sneak off to visit Graceland, leaving Stone to go back to the White House to get transport - and meet Deutch. There won't be a big reconciliation yet.

They don't find the youngsters at Graceland, but they do find Rosario Dawson, holed up in an Elvis-themed hotel. Her and Harrelson have a bit of a fling. (If you are keeping score, everyone has now got a chance to have a little fun but Stone. I think the writers are working through something here.)

There is a sort of pointless but fun interlude here where we meet Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch, an odd couple just like Eisenberg and Harrelson. So there's that. 

It all ends up at the fortified pacificist hippy commune that manbun has brought Breslin to. Guns are outlawed and there's weed and sex (but no group sex - unless you want to...). But will they be able to withstand the zombie hordes?

I left out the part where the zombies are evolving, smarter and faster. That's mainly because it hardly comes into play, although it's mentioned many times. It's partly because they tried to raise the stakes without actually raising the stakes, and maybe partly because the zombies are just there to die wetly and sometimes remove a character you don't really like - like Deutch. 

But there are plenty of good gags, the characters are engaging enough (except Stone, who's written as a bit more of a bitch than necessary, and Eisenberg who the writers seem to like more than this viewer does). It was at least as fun as the original, partly because of the metatextual references. Like another Eisenberg/Harrelson teamup, Now You See Me, this sequel wasn't exactly necessary, but why not? 

By the way, this came pout 10 years after the original. Boy does time fly.