Ten years later, the gang’s still together, living in the White House like one big semi-content family, and even more improbably, still alive. Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) have been together long enough that their zombie battles are like a well-choreographed ballet. They know each other intimately. Columbus and Wichita have somehow remained romantically involved, even if it’s stale (the lack of options might be keeping them together), and Tallahassee has appointed himself Little Rock’s substitute father, whether she wants or needs one or not.
You don’t even have to read between the lines to know that one day, the boys will wake up and find the girls gone. Sometimes you’d rather risk your brain being slurped out of your face holes than spend another night watching Netflix with your smarmy, curly-haired, concave-chested boyfriend.
The only hitch is that while these 4 bozos have gone stagnant this past decade, their zombie counterparts have not. The zombies are evolving, becoming harder to kill and better at killing. Which is depressing. Anyway, against their will, circumstances will see them all hitting the road with some new comrades in arms, hitting up Graceland and a hippie commune and literally an ice cream truck in between. Rosario Dawson joins the crew as Nevada, a badass innkeeper, and they pick up Zoey Deutch as Madison, a woman who has thus far managed to survive the zombie apocalypse because she’s absolutely brainless. It’s a role that you will make you hate her AND admire her for performing it just a little too well.
I’m naturally skeptical about sequels and I bet you are too. And yet this one reunites the whole gang and manages to recapture the magic. It leans on some of the things that made the first film unique, but doesn’t shy away from trying new things out. It finds the laugh more often than not.
I was particularly mesmerized by the clever set design; the White House is full of funny sight gags and Easter eggs that the movie doesn’t even pause to appreciate. The commune, while wholly different, is also very generously designed and outfitted. Everything in the movie is amped up – especially the violence. A head caving made even stoic Sean flinch. Or maybe he was suppressing a sneeze. The point is, my head was so firmly turned away from the screen in self-protection that I was watching him rather than the movie. Which only sounds like a complaint. In fact I quite enjoyed myself. There was really no need for a Zombieland sequel and it’s not overly concerned with justifying itself. But director Ruben Fleischer and company manage to make blood and guts endearing – go ahead and get splattered with good times.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
This didn’t need to exist but it was fun getting back with this group of characters and I had a good time with it. It was a nice break from the constant bleakness of the rest of the horror films I’m taking in this month.
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“. . . the constant bleakness”, oh why, oh why do you do this to yourself, Kariyanine?
Remember, do not fall asleep during any horror film because “they’ll” come and find you …….. beware.
Cheers.
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I’ll still go see this even though I don’t necessarily need it either. I just want to go to the theater again and nothing else is out.
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Haha, so true. There’s a couple of great movies in limited release so they aren’t here.
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Saw it last night. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Loved it.
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I’m going to have to catch this. I enjoyed the first despite myself, ha ha, and this sounds just as good. đŸ™‚
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It’s nice when a movie doesn’t take itself too seriously.
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We’re waiting for it to hit Netflix or Prime, but it’s on the list. đŸ™‚
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The problem with zombies is the same problem with FTL space movies: Impossible.
However, The Girl with all the Gifts was the only story that addressed the zombie issue of Energy: Cordyceps.
But, I’ll add ZL-!! to my list, out of nostalgia, if anything.
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What the hell have I been doing lately to have not seen or heard anything about this before? I’m in! xx
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Actually, I think the marketing for this has been rather quiet for whatever reason. That often means the movie’s bad and they
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“Sometimes you’d rather risk your brain being slurped out of your face holes than spend another night watching Netflix with your smarmy, curly-haired, concave-chested boyfriend.” — great line, Jay.
I was a solid fan of the first one. This looks made for DVD/streaming.
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Not too harsh?
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I’ll watch it just for the nostalgia of seeing the first one. But why haven’t the zombies starved to death yet?!
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