Zombieland: Double Tap follows up original

Written By Jared Murphy, News Photo Editor

Rule #1: Cardio. You never know when you’ll need to outrun a zombie. Horror comedy “Zombieland: Double Tap” was released in theaters on Oct. 18. Ten years after the first “Zombieland” movie, this installment follows the same group as before: Columbus, Tallahassee, Little Rock and Wichita, as they battle their way through the United States fighting off herds of zombies everywhere they go.

Similar to the first film, “Zombieland: Double Tap” continues with the witty humor and goriness that balance each other out quite well. There’s enough carnage and zombie killing to please horror fans, and plenty of hilarious scenes for those who are looking for a few laughs.

Since the last film the group has continued to bond, forming a post-apocalyptic family of sorts.  They even set up camp at the White House. Little Rock decides to run away, feeling that the family is overbearing, so the rest have no choice but to chase her around the country. 

At a few points, the characters almost seem self-aware that they are in a movie. In the very beginning Columbus even pokes fun at the fact that they waited ten years to make a sequel. A lot of times when movies do this it doesn’t work for me, but it was executed quite well and they didn’t go overboard which made the few jokes a whole lot funnier instead of killing the joke.

“Zombieland: Double Tap” carries on showing Columbus’ rules on the screen, which was one of my favorite parts of “Zombieland.” At one point the group runs into another duo, Albuquerque and Flagstaff, who are basically doppelgangers of Columbus and Tallahassee. Flagstaff even has a list of commandments that he follows just like Columbus’ list of rules and the two go back and forth sharing and comparing their rules for surviving Zombieland.

At one point the group runs into Arizona, who’s taking refuge at a motel near Graceland.  Arizona mentions that she’s a huge Bill Murray fan and vows to “murray” (Arizona’s term for killing someone who’s not a zombie) whoever killed Murray. In the first “Zombieland” the group stakes out in Bill Murray’s house. While Columbus is enjoying a movie in Murray’s theater, Murray sneaks up on him and Columbus mistakes him for a zombie and kills Murray. There were little hidden references to the first “Zombieland,” like this one, all over the movie that made it an even more satisfying watch for those who saw the first one.

“Zombieland: Double Tap” continues to deliver the gore and action of the first film while maintaining a sense of humor along the way. This movie is a great watch for anyone looking to have a laugh and see some zombies get brutally killed as well.