Zombieland: Double Tap

Starring Woody Harrelson, Jessie Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Zoey Deutch, Luke Wilson and Rosario Dawson. Written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Dave Callaham. Directed by Ruben Fleischer. Opens Friday at theatres everywhere. 99 minutes. 18A

In the sketchy zom-com sequel “Zombieland: Double Tap,” Jessie Eisenberg’s nerd-warrior character Columbus visits a decaying mall in search of scented candles.

His voiceover narration explains that Z-land’s stench has gotten worse in the decade since he and fellow zombie-apocalypse survivors Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) forged a shotgun family out of society’s last stand.

Columbus actually smells the funk, but we can feel it. “Double Tap” manages that rare sequel feat of reuniting all of the major cast members of the original movie, as well as director Ruben Fleischer and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who are joined by Dave Callaham from the “Godzilla” franchise.

Then the film almost squanders its blessings by settling for a story that is more Zzz-land than Z-land. It revisits most of the original jokes — except for the Twinkies — without adding much more beyond bucketloads of extra blood, gore and vomit. (Suggested movie slogan: “I Returned to ‘Zombieland’ and All I Got Was This Bloody T-Shirt.”)

The “almost” qualifier is mainly because of the four leads, who are a jolly group of bickering zombie killers to hang around with, even if they aren’t up to much. This goes double for redneck avenger Tallahassee, who gets to channel both his inner Donald Trump and his inner Elvis, as the story stumbles from the White House to Graceland.

Along the way, in various segues, they encounter new characters played by Zoey Deutch, Luke Wilson, Rosario Dawson, Thomas Middleditch and Avan Jogia, who don’t advance the plot much but mostly earn their keep. The best of them is Deutch’s bubbly Madison, a Valley Girl type who, someone observes, managed to avoid being eaten by zombies because zombies only want to eat brains.

The zombified script really is the problem here, suggesting that 10 years of foot-dragging did this project no favours. The story opens by introducing three new zombie types that have evolved over the past 10 years: a brainless Homer, a wily Hawking and a stealthy Ninja.

Then it mostly discards these creations while later introducing a super zombie called the T-800 (ahoy, “Terminator” fans!) that it takes a lot more to kill than the “double tap” head shots of Z-land rules.

The T-800 adds welcome notes of fear and suspense to the movie, but you can feel Fleischer and company pulling back from making things too scary. That’s always the challenge in the zom-com genre: finding the balance between yuks and yecchs.

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“Double Tap” ultimately staggers to the finish line through a combination of personal chemistry and audience good will — this was a sequel most fans of the original actually wanted — but there are so many instances where it could have been better. You go to the White House and Graceland and this is the most fun you can have?

I know I’m dreaming here, but how I wish they’d found a way to include the Elvis and “JFK” characters from “Bubba Ho-Tep,” an earlier undead cult comedy that likely inspired this franchise.

Note that I haven’t answered the question that every fan of “Zombieland” is asking, but I will say this: Stick around for the end credits, or you’ll feel like a Homer.