- with Shannon Griffiths
Zombieland: Double Tap – 4/5 stars
A decade since the cult hit comedy classic Zombieland set a new precedent for zombie centric entertainment, original director Ruben Fleischer and writers Rhett Rheese & Paul Wernick have arrived at their long awaited sequel Zombieland: Double Tap. Reuniting Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone to reprise their roles, ten years proves just the right brewing time for a film not only worth the wait, but just as good as the first.
Experts at identifying and killing various types of zombies following the events of the first film, the abandoned White House is now home to Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock.
When Wichita fears she is too attached to Columbus and Little Rock feels Tallahassee still treats her like a child, a rift in the makeshift family sets the team apart on a cross country journey across the zombie-fied remains of America.
Encountering fellow post-apocalyptic survivors along the way and finding themselves up against smarter, faster and seemingly unkillable zombies, they’re going to need more than weapons and wit to continue surviving.
Featuring Rosario Dawson, Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch as new cast additions and the hilarious Zoey Deutchin in a standout role as a stereo-typical Californian valley girl who has survived Zombieland by living in a mall freezer the last ten years, Columbus’ ever growing set of rules continues to grow as do the zombies hunt for human flesh.
Recapturing the spirit of the 2009 original as we revisit hilariously likeable characters in a reunion of sorts, Zombieland 2 brings the laughs, the action and of course, more zombies in a movie that’s pure fun.
Heightened by the charm of its four leads and the chemistry they share on screen, here’s one comedy sequel that gets it right.
If tradition follows and we get a third in 2029, let the fun continue but until the be sure to stay during the credits and welcome to Zombieland. Again.
Terminator: Dark Fate – 2/5 stars
Reprising iconic roles alongside each other for the first time since 1991, Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger star in Terminator: Dark Fate, the third attempt at rebooting a dead franchise. It’s dubbed “the true sequel” to 1984’s The Terminator and 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Directed by Tim Miller and featuring the return of original creator James Cameron as producer, what was promised as the real deal proper version of a Terminator 3 is nothing more than a lie to get you in the door.
Yet again another disappointing mess of a film making you question why they’ve even bothered flogging a dead horse for the umpteenth time, not even the ever so likeable Arnold and his one liners can save this from being an incredibly forgettable entry in a series that should have ended on its high note.
Pretending 2003’s Terminator: Rise of the Machines, 2009’s Terminator: Salvation and 2015’s Terminator: Genisys never happened, the stage was set for the return of Sarah Connor to be one for the ages, instead we get a film that barely works as a generic action film. Recycling the plot from T2 with less interesting characters and featuring several questionable visual effects alongside a very average story, big fans of the two original films are going to be pissed off, especially considering this is supposed to be THE continuation.
As cool as it is to see Hamilton return as the bad-ass Sarah Connor, mercilessly hunting down Terminators one by one, here she takes a backseat with little to do in favour of a ridiculous plot, essentially making her character redundant and only having Arnie show up for the last hour so they can slap his face on the poster
Stupidly green-screened to the max with the groundbreaking 1991 special effects still looking so much better than this glossy cartoon, they’re are some funny lines and a few nice action scenes, but as the Terminator film you were promised, this falls very, very short.
You won’t be back.
