Zombieland: Double Tap is just as funny as the original with the scene stealing Madison (Zoey Deutch). Fans should be chomping at the bit for this return trip.

Score: 4 / 5

Ladies and gentlemen, they did it. Somehow, someway, the main creative team and talent behind a classic comedy from ten years all came back for a sequel, and it doesn’t suck. It not only doesn’t suck, it’s actually really great. Zombieland: Double Tap is something special in that it has the right amount of differences mixed in with what you know that it doesn’t feel like you can just skip this and just watch the first. It has old ideas and plays on old jokes, but it also has some entertaining new ones that make this feel like not a cover of a classic but a real part two.

Double Tap picks up ten years after the original film as the dysfunctional family of Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock are still kicking. The chemistry between the original cast is still there and even stronger than before. You can tell they are all having a great time returning to these oddball characters, but what really makes Double Tap work is the new blood, more specifically Madison, played by Zoey Deutch. Madison injects new life into the group, and there wasn’t a scene she was in that wasn’t hilarious for one reason or the next. Her presence always causes a new comedic moment to bounce off of, and I couldn’t get enough of what she brought to the table. That isn’t to say at all that the main cast aren’t still quite humorous in themselves. More that Deutch’s Madison amplified what was already there. Along the way, there are also some great additional cameos that also add in some very funny moments.

In terms of tone, this movie feels like a perfect continuation of the humor and design of the first film, which makes perfect sense when you have the same writers and director involved. You’ll get your Zombie Kill of the Week, you’ll get some ridiculous gory action, you’ll get the funny rules of Zombieland, and you’ll get a very zany attitude of what should be a very dour world in a zombie apocalypse. In fact, the writing is clever enough to point out something that I was thinking about as watching the movie. There has been a LOT of zombie-related content since Zombieland first came on the scene a decade ago. It had me analyzing the movie in the more Walking Dead-like analysis that the show somehow programmed me into thinking. It made me realize how much I miss having a good helping of zombie comedy to go with zombie drama. This was just one of many moments where excellent writers know how to be self-aware in the right ways.

Humor is a subjective beast, more so than most other genres. I was a really big fan of the first Zombieland, and as one of those fans, I liked Double Tap just as much, if not more, with the addition of Zoey Deutch. So, if you enjoyed the 09 original, you should definitely get to theaters and check out the really funny sequel.