Zombieland: Double Tap is Everything Birds of Prey Isn't
Zombieland: Double Tap. Image courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Zombieland: Double Tap, directed by Ruben Fleischer, is very funny and entertaining, and one of the better send-ups of the zombie genre (alongside Shaun of the Dead). As I was watching it, though, I was struck by the ways in which Zombieland: Double Tap compares and contrasts with a recent film, Birds of Prey. Birds of Prey tries very hard to be similarly edgy, subversive and irreverent but completely fails by trying entirely too hard and just basically being a formulaic piece of shit. It never succeeds in striking the tongue-in-cheek tone that it is going for, as it simultaneously tries to be a sort of earnest feminist power ballad while also being suitably hip and bouncy. The combination is just annoying, and deeply not good.
The irreverent tone and style that Birds of Prey was going for – including zippy little animated interstitials and fourth wall breaking narration addressed directly to the audience – was pulled off like gangbusters in Zombieland: Double Tap. I suppose it’s a function of several things. Better acting for one, as the cast is stocked with really amazing actors who have a strong natural chemistry (something sorely lacking in Birds of Prey). This really takes the pressure off the plot, because when your characters gel so well, and when the writers can furnish them with wall-to-wall jokes that genuinely land, you have a strong foundation for a loosely constructed zombie-killin hang-out film. We don’t really need much of a narrative structure or a plot because any situation where these characters, as played by these actors, interact with one another is going to be fun to watch. And that kind of chemistry and cohesion is really missing in Birds of Prey.
The tone itself is also just dialed in better. Zombieland: Double Tap is clearly a comedy. If I’m not mistaken, the original was conceived of as a series of sketch comedy bits, and that zaniness set in the life or death world of a zombie apocalypse and then amplified by extremely graphic stylized violence in the hands of a bunch of actors who know exactly what kind of film they are in – it all comes together beautifully, without any of the tonal confusion of Birds of Prey. It’s why a scene like the one where Jessie Eisenberg and Thomas Middleditch meet one another works so well. Because this is sketch comedy, basically – but R-rated, and with a big budget. Zombieland: Double Tap has a concept, it commits to that concept, and the cast is so good they can carry the concept on their backs with their eyes closed. An underrated and very good sequel, for sure.
PS – I am watching this while in semi-quarantine on the island of Bali during a global pandemic that has the world economy on the run. If, in the end, we end up in a world similar to that of Zombieland I can only hope that the survivors enjoy themselves half as much.
