Movie Review of Zombieland Double Tap

    Columbia Pictures

Zombieland Double Tap Brings Back The Dead    

Just when we thought that any chance of a Zombieland sequel has long been buried, arise the zombies of decade past. In Zombieland Double Tap, director Ruben Fleischer brings back our favorite zombie slayers of Columbus as Jesse Eisenberg, Tallahassee as Woody Harrelson, Wichita as Emma Stone, and Little Rock as Abigail Breslin. The movie continues the original's story of our pack of heroes surviving the onslaught of zombies. But time has past, and the zombies have evolved into new subspecies with frightening, and sometimes hilarious, capabilities.

In this edition, our heroes also get reinforcements as well. But we will come back to that part a little later. The focal point of Zombieland Double Tap are the relationship between Columbus and Wichita and father-adopted daughter relationship between Tallahassee and Little Rock. All seems to be well after our heroes storm the White House in the opening scene to the sound of Metallica's Master of Puppets, and the following time is referred to as the best days of their story by the narration of Columbus. 

Of course, not everyone is satisfied with the status quo at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Little Rock is slowly growing resentment toward Tallahassee exercising his unique parental style. She craves companionship with another man, but has no options within current quarters. The situation is further aggravated when Columbus decides to propose to Wichita, which violates his own Zombieland survival rule #5: no attachments. That was the straw that pushed Wichita and Little Rock to hit the road yet again, leaving Tallahassee and Columbus with one of Wichita's notes.

Evolution Of Zombieland And New Friends

As our male heroes duo ponder their predicament, they decide to re-stock their supplies. It is at this point that Columbus stumbles upon, and nearly kills, a new friend - Madison, played by Zoey Deutch. What can be said about Madison is best said through a lyric by the Bloodhound Gang - "She was hotter than the sun, she just wasn't that bright". She serves as the comic relief in Zombieland Double Tap and does not disappoint in this pun-filled sarcastic joy ride. Still devastated by Wichita's sudden departure Columbus is assaulted by Madison, because a girl got needs. The movie takes another turn when Wichita all of a sudden shows up again.

Wichita reveals that Little Rock met a man in the form of Berkeley, played by Avan Jogia. Little Rock was already looking for companionship, being the reason she left, and seizes the presented opportunity, taking the car with Berkeley and leaving Wichita on her own. Seeing that this is Zombieland and functioning male humans are hard to come by, beggars can't be choosers. Remembering talks of Graceland and the king of rock n' roll, Elvis Presley, the revamped pack sets out for Memphis Tennessee. Along with the dumb zombie, the smart zombie, and the stealthy zombie, our heroes discover a new evolved type of zombie - the hardest one to kill yet.

Seeing Double in Zombieland 

As the story of Zombieland Double Tap progresses, our friends finally arrive at what once was Graceland. While initially disappointed, they discover a nearby hotel ran by Nevada, played by Rosario Dawson. The morning after their arrival, they are greeted by two characters who act suspiciously similar to our longtime male heroes. Albuquerque, played by Luke Wilson, is a carbon copy of Tallahassee and Flagstaff, played by Thomas Middleditch, is a carbon copy of Columbus. Despite the chemistry Tallahassee finds with Nevada, the group is forced to carry on to find Little Rock. 

As our heroes approach the hippie community where Little Rock and Berkeley are staying, there is no doubt you can draw a parallel to the original Zombieland. A lot of the same exact predicaments are confronting the pack and they handle them in just the same ridiculous way. The movie rehashes a lot of the same puns and dynamics, which is satisfying to the fans of the original, but does little to add to any originality in this edition. As they ponder their predicament, a friend they have just recently met will come to the rescue and provide a much needed boost in their fight for survival. 

Zombieland All Tapped Out

Nobody can call Zombieland Double Tap a good horror movie. If anything, this movie is more of a comedy full of puns and sarcasm. In that regard, it succeeds just as much as the original. However, this edition offers barely anything new. There are new characters introduced with flare and bewilderment, but outside of Madison, they serve little purpose. The newly evolved zombies are a nice touch, but in the grand scheme of things they add nothing significant to the story. As mentioned before, the movie does offer a nice cinematic fast food meal for fans of puns and sarcasm. But, that meal is rather stale, circa 2009. 

As far as Zombieland is concerned, Zombieland Double Tap is an entertaining but unoriginal sequel. The movie is a satiric reflection of relationships of fathers and daughters, as well relationships of lovers who are close to being the last men and women on earth. Rotten Tomatoes' critics have given this movie a grade of 68% approval, while Metacritic has given it a mixed score of 56 so far. I will have to agree with these results. I really enjoyed the original movie, because ten years ago it was quite original entertainment. But Ruben Fleischer failed to innovate and inject any significant originality into the formula, choosing to drive the same exact thing into the ground and likely applying the double tap rule to any chances of a third installment. I give it a top score of 3.0 out of 5.0 stars.

Until next time, grab your popcorn, milk duds, turn off the phone, and enjoy the movie.

Movie Review of Us

    Claudette Barius / Universal

Us Is Jordan Peele's Horror Masterpiece    

When it comes to horror movie genre, just two movies into his directorial career Jordan Peele is already an Oscar-winning highly acclaimed Master of Horror. His follow-up to the widely acclaimed Get Out, is a no holds barred suspenseful and shocking horror film Us. The story line is highly original with plenty of twists and turns, where just when the audience believe they have a handle of what's going on, the movie blindsides them yet again. It would be good enough to have a horror movie of this caliber have its core elements of suspense, shock, disguised plot twists, and gore. But this movie isn't just good enough, it resides firmly in cinematic greatness territory.

Beyond the horror, Jordan Peele also carries Us on a dark satire of a journey of how we, as different classes of society, treat each other. Where sometimes the different classes don't see each other at all, at other times one class completely ignores the others' existence. Despite all that, the film leads the audience to realize that we as people regardless of class are still the same. Finally when pushed beyond the breaking point, the abandonment of one class of a society can have dire consequences for everyone. 

The movie Us centers around the story of Adelaide Wilson, played by Lupita Nyong'o. We first see her as a little girl who disobeyed her parents and ran off into the carnival house of mirrors having a frightful experience, then as an adult fearing for the safety of her own family. All the while the feeling of the fright night as a child horrifies her, as though she expects a reckoning yet to come. Her worst fears come to life, as a red-clad foursome invade her family's summer getaway. But that is only the beginning of the horror yet to come.

Us... And Us In Red

When we first see Adelaide as an adult, she is now vacationing with her family on a beachfront resort. She and her husband Gabe, played by Winston Duke, meet up with another couple they have been casual friends through the years as they spend time on the beach. The aforementioned sense of reckoning is disturbing her, and Adelaide is unable to relax. Her tension overflows when her son Jason, played by Evan Alex, wanders off near a familiar house of mirrors. Us is very heavy on foreshadowing, as the audience see the same biblical reference that the young Adelaide first saw as a little girl - Jeremiah 11:11. 

To spare everyone a refresher course on the Old Testament, that verse basically means that bad things are going to happen and God will ignore all prayers. Sure enough, at 11:11pm, Us turns up the stakes as the mysterious foursome shows up as silent silhouettes on the Wilsons' driveway. They soon discover that the four red-clad jumpsuit wearing people are a doppelganger set of Adelaide, Gabe, Zora, and Jason - the Wilson family. Peele perfectly shocks the audience with these silent assailants, and the tension continues, as only Adelaide's doppelganger Red can speak, albeit in a raspy limited voice. 

Us In A Fight For Survival 

As Red begins to explain to Adelaide, she refers to the doppelganger family as the 'tethered', as if the Wilsons and their doppelgangers are actually tied to each other in some way. This goes well along the lines of Jordan Peele's social commentary in Us, of a class struggle - where one group of people prospers, while the other is dismissed and struggles in the dark. All that pent up resentment that the doppelganger family feels has boiled over, and they have come carrying scissors to achieve the freedom they crave via 'untethering'. At this point in the movie, the family members and their doppelgangers pair off, and an individual fights for survival ensue. 

As the fights progress, the real Us of Wilson family gains the upper hand and choose to escape to their friends' house. This is where the Wilsons realize that the struggle they are experiencing is not limited to them alone. I will cut off all the reveals here, as there's still a lot left to digest. But there are still a few twists for you, the viewer, left to discover on your own. Let's just say that the movie Us is a dark satire of discontent and, in some respects, a warning to all people that we must all fight to eradicate the scale of inequality in our society, or we are all doomed. In that sense, Us is a fitting title to this movie, as that word in itself doesn't distinguish class - it is all inclusive. 

Jordan Peele's Crowning Achievement

In the end after all the masterfully crafted horror, tension, and gore, Us actually symbolizes a hopeful message. It leaves the viewer understanding that we are all people, the same in every respect and desire. Given the chance to eradicate class barriers, we can all stand together with no need for violence. But it also provides a warning that we cannot take each other for granted and cast each other off, expecting the status quo to continue. It very clearly states, that there is a reckoning to be had, if inequality continues to spiral out of hand.

In Us, Jordan Peele combines all the traditional pieces of the horror genre, while carefully weaving dark satire in the form of social commentary. It is a master class in both entertaining his audience, while at the same time, making them think. Rotten Tomatoes' critics have given this movie a certified fresh grade of 93% approval, while Metacritic has given it a must-see score of 81 so far. I will have to agree on this one. As far as horror movies go, Us contains a highly original quality story, it is able to keep the audience terrified with its shocking plot twists and gore, and it provides a very poignant thought-provoking social commentary - something that most horror movies never approach. I give it a top score of 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.

Until next time, grab your popcorn, milk duds, turn off the phone, and enjoy the movie.

Movie Review of Midsommar

    Csaba Aknay / A24

Midsommar Is An Original Daytime Horror   

There is nothing like a good horror movie to spice up the Halloween season. Here I will review the eyes wide open, because most of it happens in continuous daylight, horror film Midsommar. The director Ari Aster takes the audience on a drug-induced dangerous trip to a far away Pagan cult. If there is a moral message within this movie that the viewers can take away it is to is stay away from toxic relationships and carefully screen your perceived friends.

The movie centers on a fragile relationship between its two leading characters, Dani who is played by Florence Pugh and Christian who is played by Jack Reynor. Christian personifies the self-absorbed boyfriend who wanted to break-up with Dani, but for some reason has not. Dani is a mentally unstable individual who takes copious amounts of medication and regularly sees a psychiatrist. The situation is further exacerbated by Dani suffering a terrible family tragedy. At this point, we see where the movie Midsommar takes its name from.

Unbeknownst to Dani, Christian and his friends have planned a getaway to participate in one of his friends' "commune" festival in Sweden. At the last minute, she decides to join the group in this adventure. The holiday itself appears to be a midsummer solstice festival of Pagan origin. While the pageantry, rituals, and feasts are inviting, they're also very odd and begin to wear and shock the outsiders who endure them. The symbolism with all the etched figurines and cloth paintings are striking and foreshadow the path the group embarks upon.

Horror Runs Through Females in Midsommar

Despite Christian being the foremost egotistic character in this movie, it is Dani, Maja, and a slew of other female characters in the story that are portrayed in the most awful way. It is most anti-feminine, bordering on misogynistic, right from the onset as we see how Dani wears Christian down from the very opening scenes. Her pills symbolize mental instability, her tragedy adds self-harm to family history, and the consistent nagging with which she wears Christian down truly does make it seem that she is what's wrong with the relationship.

When the audience find themselves in the commune during Midsommar, the role of the female is even more pronounced. Constantly scheming and attempting to sway the men into the role of the servant, be it to the commune's somewhat bizarre traditions, or for the purposes of ritual target. Regardless of the scenario shown in this movie, the women always tend to run the show attracting and discarding men as they see fit. Even the focal point of this commune/cult at the height of the festival, the enlightened one, cannot be replaced without the explicit instructions of the elder woman.

Take Flight Only With Trusted Friends 

If someone ever invites you to a festival in an isolated commune in the middle of nowhere in a foreign land, make sure you know that someone very well. Also, trust but verify by research all details of the said isolated commune. The Midsommar invitation to the commune comes casually as a great summer escape from Christian's Swedish acquaintance Pelle, played by Vilhelm Blomgren. Each of the friends are so fixated on their own selfish goals, that they never bother to suspect anything sinister. As the group lands and begins to acclimate to the people around them, they soon begin to realize that this is more of a cult than a harmless commune.

The true measures of a great horror movie are the quality of the story line, whether or not it has enough terror for the audience, and how well disguised is that terror. The story line here, is above average with most of the points earned for originality. Ari Aster is able to seamlessly transition his camerawork from a harmless exchange between friends to a shocking and bizarre ritual that the Pagan cult performs. It is a very contrasting set of emotions that the audience are taken through in this movie, and as far as traditional horror it doesn't disappoint. However the signs, or in the case of Midsommar the symbols, are rather easy to read. And if you are a veteran of horror movie genre, the suspense and disguise of what will happen next is just not there.

Midsommar Unveils Cathartic Conclusion

The journey of our group of travelers gradually comes to an abrupt end for each, as they realize all too late that their intended fates have been written the moment they boarded the plane. Everyone that is, except for Dani. Here we will remind the audience that she was not originally intended to take the trip for Midsommar, and was a last minute addition to this adventure gone wrong. The final casserole of horror involves mind control, betrayal, vengeance, and catharsis. The relationship between Dani and Christian was never meant to last, but the severity with which it is finally exorcised will leave the audience in shock.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics have given this movie a certified fresh grade of 83% approval, while Metacritic has given it a good score of 72 so far. I will have to agree on this one. As far as horror movies go, Midsommar contains a good story, is able to keep the audience terrified with its change of pace and gore, and provides plenty of original imagery. While it comes up short in the suspense, or in the case of horror movies fails to completely disguise what is to come, I still cannot give it a bad score. I give it 4.0 out of 5 stars.

Until next time, grab your popcorn, milk duds, turn off the phone, and enjoy the movie.