"Zombieland: Double Tap" entered our scope when it was all but forgotten. A notable ten years since the original released.

Columbus, Little Rock,Tallahassee and Wichita all together again in the sequel that's been on the minds of zombie fans, comedy fans, and Emma Stone fans alike. This movie cocked back a lot of what audiences saw in 2009, including plenty of gore, some good old jabs between Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, and Columbus's long list of rules from which the movie is named. There are a few new characters introduced who impact the story, but aside from them it feels as though little has changed.

Columbus's coordinated self is awkward when it comes to advancing with the woman he loves, Wichita and Little Rock are looking for their trustworthy home, while not being so trusting themselves, and most surprising is what's become of Tallahassee which is a sort of a father figure, zombie-killing romantic, or something. Pair these motivational shifts, or lack thereof, with a story copy and pasted from the first, and the result is something audiences should not have spent 10 years waiting for.

Granted, there are many other films that tested our patience when releasing their sequels. The number of years between "Men in Black 3" and the previous movie was 10 years, "Live Free or Die Hard" was 12 years, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was 19 years, and although I've never seen it, another Harrison Ford movie "Blade Runner 2049" had a gap of 35 years between it's own release and the original.

Although I believe a pass should be given to Pixar and other animated films, for their level of detail and time required to reach it, there are films that show how quickly this point can be achieved. After all, a short 6 years passed between "Wreck-It Ralph" in 2012 and "Ralph Breaks the Internet" in 2019.

There are things we all expect in sequels, whether those expectations are met is another thing. We expect new stories involving the world we've come to know, and additions made that compliment the existing subjects within our story. Newness is inviting! When "Men in Black 3" came back after a decade and introduced a time travel plot line my 14-year-old self was losing it with excitement. "Incredibles 2" introduced an entire team of evil supers, along with a perspective that followed Mrs.Incredible which I thought made the movie a great sequel. But one worth the 14 years? Hardly.

Sequels are one of the best and worst things to wish for out of movie franchises. Truthfully, some of the best on-screen stories I've seen have been told in 150 minutes or less. With no further developments necessary. However, studios may view a sequel as an insured bankable project because the original was so widely admired. Making a move to start these projects is a mistake, unless the story and characters are given a believable journey to begin again.

When the wait is that long, it'd better be perfect!