Zombies 4 Review: A Good Time, But the Franchise Deserved a Fresher Relaunch
Greg Ehrhardt, OnScreen Blog Editor
The Zombies franchise has continued the Disney Channel tradition of teen musical fantasy, blending high-energy pop anthems with messages about inclusion, identity, and belonging. If you like that formula with the first 3 Zombies movies, the entire Descendants franchise, and most of the other Disney Channel movie musicals, Zombies 4 won’t disappoint, and you should see it. Honestly, those two sentences might be a sufficient review for most audiences regardless of age. We don’t sit down to watch a Disney Channel movie musical with hopes that we are watching a future Criterion classic. We hope it's fun and has a few catchy songs that we won’t mind listening to on loop when our kids play it in our homes.
Still, Zombies 4 did something different that Descendants: Rise of Red notably did not do, which is bring back the main stars from the trilogy, with Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly serving as executive producers at that. The purpose is obvious: have these main characters, all of whom have high approval ratings with fans, bless the new cast by appearing with them and thus giving the audience permission to connect with them, something that I suspect Disney wishes it did with Rise of Red, even though I thought it was the correct decision to only feature China Anne McClain. (Of course, it was probably not Disney’s decision to withhold Dove Cameron and Sofia Carson.)
Despite the film’s attempts to move into fresh territory, Zombies 4 continues to center Addison (Meg Donnelly) and Zed (Milo Manheim), two characters whose narrative arcs felt complete by the end of the third installment. While both actors are as charming and committed as ever, their presence in this film feels like a creative misstep. Rather than fully embracing the potential of a new cast and new storylines, the movie leans on old favorites—perhaps out of fear that audiences won’t connect without them.
Did Zombies 4 work with Donnelly and Manheim centrally involved? While both actors are as charming and committed as ever, their presence in this film feels like a creative misstep. Rather than fully embracing the potential of a new cast and new storylines, the movie leans on old favorites—perhaps out of fear that audiences won’t connect without them. Yes, the leads, Freya Skye and Malachi Barton have time to shine, including a sweet duet that was pointedly reminiscent of Addison and Zed’s duet “Someday”, and we saw enough from Skye to believe she will be the franchise’s next star (I’m way more on the fence with Barton, despite his similarities to Cameron Boyce).
However, Zombies 4 made a point of giving overt closure to Addison and Zed’s intertwined character arcs, including another entirely unnecessary and abbreviated reprisal of “Someday”. There was nothing they did in furthering the plot that Willa and Eliza couldn’t have handled themselves, and frankly, they should have handled it themselves, considering Eliza was only seen from the neck up due to her real-life pregnancy and Willa was introduced in Zombies 2; both characters were not as saturated in screen time as Addison and Zed. There was really nothing more we needed to see from those two.
Why am I focused on this and not everything else happening in this movie? Because I think Descendants did right by Kylie Cattrall and Malia Baker in giving them the movie to shine, and the opportunity could have been there for not just Barton and Skye, but also the supporting characters (Mekonnen Knife, Julian Lerner, Swayam Bhatia, just to name a few). Perhaps what they were given is enough; time will tell. But Donnelly and especially Manheim have bright futures; I think Manheim can be very successful on stage if he wants it. They didn’t need this movie; the other actors did, and that’s why, despite Zombies 4 being an overall enjoyable movie and soundtrack, this felt like a bit of a shame that it was done this way.
In the end, Zombies 4 plays the hits well but doesn’t quite manage to break new ground. The music and dancing remain the franchise’s strongest assets, and it is executed skillfully. But creatively, it’s time to let go of the past. The world of Zombies is ready for a new generation—and when Zombies 5 comes along, hopefully Disney will have the confidence to let it stand on its own.
A few other notes on the movie, since we’re all here talking about it.
One thing to know heading into this movie is that it is very different from the other three installments. This leans into the fantasy elements strongly, even hinting at an epic kind of like what was delivered with Twilight 3. The CGI, though, was strong, even on an HD television. However, if it needs to be said, we’re not seeing Avatar-ish effects here.
My 11-year-old daughter generally liked the movie (she puts it as the third best movie, ahead of Zombies 3), but she was very confused by what Daywalkers were and why they were different from vampires. She got it once I explained it to her, but the movie does not do a great job of explaining those concepts to a 5th grader, as well as a couple of other plot elements like the tree roots messing with Zed and Willa’s powers.
I was ready to cringe when Freya Skye and Malachi Barton’s romance blossomed on screen (Freya is 15, Malachi is 18, even though Freya looks older), but luckily, they avoided any sort of real romantic embrace (I’m sure it will come in the sequels).
The soundtrack was very good and even more energetic than expected, particularly in the first half of the movie. My daughter and I need to listen to the soundtrack a few more times to rank them with the other Zombies songs (check here for updates in the next couple of weeks), but I expect a couple of songs to make the top 10.
3 out of 4 stars.
