Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 2 (Musical Hell Review

[@karrihart1]

Can we also talk about how this whole franchise is supposed to an allegory for race and yet the majority of the leads are white?

[@eatatjoes6751]

Well, Seabrook isn't entirely white. That would have made it land harder!

[@juliagoodwin9510]

_oof_ .

[@twkreviews6683]

Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed.

[@Eviltwin531]

I'm honestly not sure which would be worse, whitewashing their clumsy racial allegory or leaning into it.

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

To be fair, I think them having more lead zombies being portrayed by black people wouldn't help more to the racism allegory

[@timothymclean]

5:10: You can't have your Native American stand-ins live in an actual _town,_ that wouldn't be authentic. They need to live in the middle of the wilderness, like the animals they happen to turn into. I don't see any way that coding the same group as both Indigenous and animalistic could backfire, do you? 8:45: Holy shit, this just keeps getting worse. This is the kind of joke that racist grandpas would make in-universe, which makes it uncomfortable for me even when the in-universe race _isn't_ an explicit allegory for a real-world group! 7:18: Could you get a more literal White Savior than this? 13:24: I'll grant you that this is a better twist than Hunchback of Notre Dame (most pre-Disney versions) revealing that Esmerelda is actually white instead of Romani, but in-context it feels a bit "My grandma said she was 1/8th Cherokee".

[@johnvinals7423]

But there were giant cities in Kheya Wita long before Columbus failed to ask for directions.

[@timothymclean]

@@johnvinals7423 Wait, are you taking my sarcasm seriously? My apologies.

[@amityislandchum]

As to your first point, the movie makes it clear that the werewolves live in the wilderness because the town of Seabrook was originally their land before the "normal" people stole it. So it's clearly an allegory for reservations. Your other points hold up, though.

[@timothymclean]

@@amityislandchum Reservations still have buildings and towns and stuff. They don't just live in the woods.

[@gracekim1998]

@@timothymclean Wouldn’t Esmeralda be mixed?….you guys know mixed people exist right?😅I’m very confused by this statement

[@scylla1772]

Are you sure that shrimp costume isn't this movie's saving grace? Sure, we didn't NEED "Prawn", but a plot beginning with someone crashed a bus is objectively improved if the driver is wearing a goofy shrimp costume for no logical reason

[@trinaq]

The only reason that I'm looking forward to "Zombies 3" is that I know that Diva will gloriously rip it to shreds in this court eventually! 😻

[@TommyDeonauthsArchives]

And then not give it any punishments... because reasons.

[@shakurburton9358]

Nigga, that's the only reason we all here at all, honestly.

[@jeremyusreevu237]

@@deen7530 or maybe aliens? 👽👽👽👽👽

[@colleen4ever]

Oh GOD they really are making a 3rd?!

[@MrGabeanator]

oh yes

[@trinaq]

I hate how Eliza is never treated seriously by ANYONE in these movies, despite her making the most sense, and having the highest morals. She was treated by the narrative as being unreasonable in the last movie, yet she makes a lot more sense than Bucky and his cronies.

[@Eviltwin531]

Nickelodeon is guilty of it, too. Henry Danger and Danger Force both have black girl characters in the role of "Only Sane Man" but end up being too smart for their own good, since they're made so smart and capable, they have to be constantly ignored or dismissed because they'd solve the plots too fast.

[@PhoenixRising87]

#NowThatsWhatICallMisogynoir

[@jacquelinecallejas1390]

I think this is related to the way feminist characters have generally been treated in teen comedies. They are made to look unreasonable or rediculous when they generally stand for fairness and equality. Saved by the Bell pops to mind but is certainly not the only offender.

[@Ashen.Elixer]

@@jacquelinecallejas1390 doesn't help that her perspective is basically "eat the rich", and I doubt the shareholders would appreciate that one

[@kaitlinowens2714]

Especially because when I first watched zombies 2 when they brought up the idea of a zombie running for student president I got hopeful and thought it was going to be Eliza who would run for president until it was revealed to be Zed. Because out of the two of them it would have made sense for her to run because she’s the one who wants more rights for the zombies and won’t get distracted by Addison having another identity crisis.

[@animeotaku307]

The “Addison is a werewolf” subplot could have been done better if they leaned in on the aspect of someone doing a DNA test, discovering that they’re 5% Native American, and going all in on that for their own benefit without them actually giving consideration to the group they’re claiming to be part of.

[@timothymclean]

Considering the franchise's history, the werewolves would probably get mad at her and then apologize for that in act 3.

[@Justice237]

Judging from her hair glowing in the sequel bait, that’ll likely happen with the aliens rather than the werewolves

[@chaoticneutral7976]

Funny enough a Disney Channel cartoon episode already exists that did that trope: Pepper Ann. The episode "Dances with Ignorance" has Pepper Ann finding out she's 1/16th Navajo and she starts acting like a stereotypical Native American from what she's picked up from movies and video games. She ends up insulting a real Navajo family and actually gets called out on her behavior. Hard to believe a cartoon from 1999 managed to make a more meaningful statement than a 2020 Disney channel movie.

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

@@chaoticneutral7976 woah, gotta watch it

[@icecreamhero2375]

That reminds me of Family Guy when Brian found out he was 1 percent cat.

[@msfthe1st117]

I keep thinking about how Monster High: Fright On has a much better execution of racial allegory, especially for kids media, and especially especially considering it’s a 45 minute special made primarily to sell fashion dolls.

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

Monster High is so good, no matter the media. I read some of the books and loved them.

[@alijahaskew4644]

Not to mention better monster designs.

[@kenthuang436]

Monster High had more creative backstories for the characters and expanded them from being stereotypes. You had Cleo who was the most popular girl in the school yet she wasn’t really a mean girl, Ghoulia who was one of the smartest students who was also a bit more outgoing than most stereotypical smart kids are in media, and Toralei who was the troublemaker and is competitive but she only wants to win through honest means.

[@willlyon7129]

Along with its spin off Ever After High, which Disney ripped off on Descendants .

[@gracekim1998]

@@willlyon7129no one ripped anyone off. Fairy tales is not owned by Disney! Please stop spreading misinformation 😅

[@eatatjoes6751]

*groans* This shit again? It's even worse now. because it wasn't enough that Seabrook's whole "zombies are black people" metaphor falls apart when you realize Seabrook isn't segregated, but now they're just going all in on the "werewolves are Native American and some white chick found out she's 5 percent and centers her life around it," cliché/can of worms? That's like if they weren't Jewish and then took some DNA test and started rattling off on the Holocaust or barging into Bat Mitzvahs. Also, can I say High School Musical doesn't seem too bad now by comparison?

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

This movie being a racism allegory it's worse now

[@icecreamhero2375]

It remenids me of Family Guy. Brain takes a DNA test and finds out he is 1% cat. Because he is 1% cate he starts acting like one.

[@Eviltwin531]

Speaking of false dilemma, something that just occurred to me: Is it explained in the movie exactly as to *WHY* nobody just lets the werewolves go get the Moonstone before the building is demolished? I mean, usually valuable stuff is taken out of a building before it's demolished, and if the humans left the stone behind, it kinda implies they didn't even want it anymore. Even if there was a reason, like the building was dangerous, surely there's some kind of way to get it. Probably most importantly, why the here has Diva got me over-analyzing the plot of lame DCOM musicals!?

[@caffeineandmemes]

No literally, I don't understand why nobody thought to go check for the actual Moonstone. Even if they couldn't let the werewolves have it as a bad allegory for indigenous people losing the things that are important to their culture, the movie could have used it to squeeze out one last plotline of how the humans want to take the artifact because they think it'll look cool or because they want to harvest its power. They've already kicked the horse while it's down, why not break its leg too while they're at it

[@lizorgan1238]

Diva: "get ready for the awkward immigration metaphors everybody" I cracked up, only reason why I can't wait for the 3rd one

[@litlblkhouse]

Am I the only one who thinks that these characters deserve a better movie (or TV show) with a stronger plot?

[@kenthuang436]

Only if Eliza is the main character and Zombie. Zed is actually not all that interesting for a main character when you actually think about it and is pretty cliché and very stereotypical. Eliza is the most rational out of everyone in the Zombies series and wants actual change that will help everyone and fights injustice which is very prominent in the series. All Zed wants to do is to be popular and to be “accepted” by the humans and date the most popular girl in the school. Addison is equally as bad as a character because all she does is whine about how she “doesn’t fit in anywhere” despite being the most popular girl in the school, white with hair that could be called a type of blonde and blue eyes, and has suffered no real oppression because of her looks and mom’s status as a city official and mayor.

[@gracekim1998]

@@litlblkhousehonestly i don’t know why they didn’t just do it a show from the beginning 😅

[@kathleenjackson3258]

You know there is such a thing as a good zombie musical. It’s called “Anna and the Apocalypse,” and it’s much less about social commentary and much more about coming-of-age. With zombies! Anyone who likes a good horror musical should check it out.

[@genevievemccluer7503]

It is phenomenal, but god their "phone's bad" number is so out of nowhere and doesn't match anything that's going on.

[@shanon4768]

YES

[@PanicMerchant]

The whole subplot about how zombies eventually might not need z-bands because they're gaining control of their monstrous side is pretty gross in the context of the racial allegory

[@timothymclean]

I'd say the fact that they _have_ a violently monstrous side in the first place is the problem here. The way they overcome it as they start to assimilate into the dominant culture isn't _great,_ but it's not even a rounding error compared to that original sin!

[@christheleavittman7080]

Man, if I had a nickel everytime a 2020 supernatural Disney Channel product had a differently named version of Prom related to the school’s theme or history I’d have two nickels (which isn’t a lot but between this and The Owl House it’s weird that it happened twice).

[@valentine8409]

Don't you dare slander the Owl House by comparing it to this monstrosity. /hj

[@christheleavittman7080]

@@valentine8409 I wasn’t. I was making a joke/meme.

[@SuperEasywalker]

Well at least in the Owl House it is in another world/dimension yet Z-O-M-B-I-E-S franchise is set on earth so there is no reason change it. Also the Disney Channel Movie RADIO REBEL did a different version of Prom (aka Morp) because the school cancel prom to stop Radio Rebel, so in other words it was part of the plot.

[@christheleavittman7080]

@@SuperEasywalker oh right! I forgot about that movie; though it didn’t really fit the meme well as both Zombies 2 and TOH came out in 2020. Also, Grom was a part of TOH’s plot and character development.

[@timothymclean]

@@SuperEasywalker I think the implication is that Prawn is a local official nickname for what the rest of the country calls proms? Still dumb, just for different reasons.

[@skyslasher2297]

7:26 on top of that they can finally evolve all their Clefairys

[@kenthuang436]

And Jigglypuff!

[@sharnisestreaty9286]

Telling a "racial" minority that they just need to "be themselves" and not assimilate to the dominant culture at all in order to gain power in a segregated, blatantly racist environment is the most privileged thing ever. Code switching is a thing for a reason. Minority parents instilling in their children that they have to work twice as hard for half the pay off is taught for a reason. There's a reason why "respectability politics" was such a big part of the Civil Rights Movement. The fact that Addison was shown as being in the right shows that the creators barely have a surface level understanding of how racism and systemic racism works. When someone of the dominant group (Addison) chastises a minority for not doing things the way they would do it from their point of privilege, that's problematic at best. Zed is right to call Addison out, but should have taken it further as his entire community's rights and lives are on the line here. A better story would have understood that and highlighted the unfairness that Bucky can be his horrible self and be fine (and win like Trump), but Zed doesn't just have to be human, he has to overcompensate "human-ness" just to be seen as "one of the goods ones" and still lose (not bc he becomes a stereotype, but bc "you're a good guy with great ideas, but ppl aren't comfortable with someone like you in that position; you understand"). If you want to write a racism metaphor, take the time to actually understand how racism works in various situations. (And STOP centering a pretty, white, thin, able-bodied, straight, cis person as the REAL victim.)

[@angelabryant9766]

I swear to God, these movies felt like they were written by the most privileged, never had a problem in their life rich white person to ever exist. I've seen these stories before, ya know the ones that are trying to be sensitive to various races using that race's stereotypes and can't for the life of them see the problem. 'It's okay to like basketball black people, we like it too!' that kind of thing. It'd certainly explain why their associating these monsters with real races to negative effect, seeming to be taking about those negative things being okay instead of actually having lore about it. Like wouldn't it make more sense if we made entirely new stereotypes the racists in the world played off of, like why don't both of the monster races get a lot of racist comments about eating people for example. In fact, the only stuff we get directly related to their race, the bad dog jokes at the werewolf's expense, isn't a racist joke made by the characters, they're made by the movie. Way to show your sensitive assholes, set us up to laugh at the werewolf's, 'look at the funny puppy's audience!'.

[@mariaantoniajosephajohanna]

FR. I think that's also why Eliza isn't taken as seriously too, even though she's literally the best person/character in this entire franchise

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

OMG, Donald Trump wrote this

[@gentillydanny]

Consider the source - Disney.

[@colleen4ever]

@@ClaudetteVioletta NO, JOE BIDEN DID!!!

[@kenthuang436]

@@colleen4ever No Trump wrote it. This movie was obviously written by someone with no functioning brain. Biden has a brain so he can’t be the writer.

[@johnvinals7423]

6:46 Also, gotta love how the original House Elf fanart depicts them as something like a gosh darn racial caricature from the 1890s.

[@rogue7723]

I never noticed that until you brought it up and I read _The Goblet Of Fire_ two or three times.

[@johnvinals7423]

Also, that House Elf art was official for the books, not fanart.

[@willlyon7129]

It’s kind of sad how they left this subplot was cut out in the movie.

[@timothymclean]

@@willlyon7129 Honestly, SPEW just drew attention to how terribly the house elves were written/worldbuilt.

[@johnvinals7423]

@@timothymclean Didst thou knowest that some Wizards have sex with and impregnate their House Elves?

[@Eviltwin531]

I just realized, with the clumsy and too on-the-nose racial metaphors, this is basically _Bright_ for tweens. I'm scared to think of what other monster species would have looked like, like vampires or ^shudders^ fairies. And while I'm here, are they ever going to explain Addison's freakin' white hair? That's been dangled out as some sort of Chekov's Gun with no payoff for two movies already. Not a zombie, not a werewolf, either she's been an alien (the new symbolism of the third movie) all along or this has been the most completely pointless trilogy-long dry-hump I've ever seen.

[@deen7530]

I bet in ZOMBIES 4 they finally reveal Addison is a Targaryen

[@juliagoodwin9510]

Does anyone know how to write this kind of thing and do it well? Just curious.

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

I could have seen their take on fairies being an awful love story between Bucky (the coded gay character,) and a fairy girl, who would obviously have rainbow wings. And Bucky's climactic "coming out" song would be him suddenly growing his own pair of wings, because when your true love is a fairy you become one yourself or some shit.

[@deen7530]

@@PassTheMarmalade1957 Ooh I like that one because its okay for Disney to have gay-coded characters, but they can never explicity say it for plausible deniability. Gotta get that sweet cash from homophobes!

[@Eviltwin531]

@@juliagoodwin9510 I honestly don't know. The problem is that any time they try to make this "fantastic racism" allegory (X-Men, True Blood, these movies,) the group they used as a symbolic stand-in for a persecuted race... zombies, werewolves, super-powered mutants, vampires... legitimately ARE shown to be dangerous, meaning audiences take the wrong side and tend to believe humans are justified in being apprehensive of them.

[@tylerfish2701]

12:29 OKAY! I GET IT! YOUR AN OUTSIDER, HE'S AN OUTSIDER! I'M AN OUTSIDER! ARE THERE ANYMORE OUTSIDERS I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT!? Gary: Meow. I'm outta here.

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

I wish they'd committed to making the werewolves look a bit wolfier in human form. At least give them all fluffy sideburns or something.

[@dunes8817]

Plus, it's not like Disney's never tapped into furry bait territory before.

[@dunes8817]

Also, here they look sorta like Fox X-Men rejects. Like they'd be attending Xavier's school.

[@timothymclean]

Yes, even the girls. Did we stutter?

[@reasyrandom]

@@dunes8817 Disney INVENTED furry bait. Or at least codified it. Their "Robin Hood" pretty much shaped furries as we know them today.

[@caitlinsnowfrost8244]

@@timothymclean Seriously, female werewolves with fluffy sideburns *would* be a cute look! It wouldn't even necessarily make them look more "masculine", just more wolfish.

[@Dreigonix]

The worst part about this series is that if I’m trying to argue with an anti-SJW that wokeness doesn’t ruin media and then they pull out Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, well, I’m instantly on the defensive.

[@adamsmoberly]

Very true. It’s bad enough they have the zombies as stand ins for black people and the wolfs as Native Americans, but then you have the main character with a condition (which I’m not going to say is Albinism, but kind of seems like it, since it’s only a visual thing) is sought upon, because she has magic with the condition (which comes off messed up, because as I stated about Albinism, they are hunted in part of the world for their “magic”, which means they are killed for their medical condition), which is messed up. I mean I’m not saying she is supposed to be someone who is adjacent with Albinism, but it comes off like that in my opinion, which is messed up. What happened to the days of That’s So Raven, when Disney actually had the guts to point out real issues in our country. It feels like they want to be progressive, but in a way where it’s not noticeable enough by people who see in black and white.

[@Talisguy]

Touching on very sensitive issues that you don't understand in a lazy attempt to pander to a specific audience certainly ruins media. And that's the vibe I get. It doesn't feel like an honest attempt to say something worthwhile that just happened to fail.

[@Dreigonix]

@@Talisguy Exactly. But anti-SJWs purposely don't make the distinction between that and just having a progressive message or non-majority characters...

[@colleen4ever]

Don't you mean argue WITH an SJW? Anti-SJW's already KNOW wokeness ruins media.

[@Dreigonix]

@@colleen4ever Oh snap, we got one in the wild! Care to defend your position?

[@lexh.5225]

Of course I want to be a werewolf, in that I get cool hair and can growl and my eyes glow. The forced shape-changing, uncontrollable animal nature, and risking turning my loved ones if they get too close? The drama that has attracted us to the werewolves for generations? Oh no, we can't have that.

[@majinism5582]

Weirdly, how is it that the zombies are more like traditional werewolves than the ACTUAL werewolves?

[@gracestarkes2644]

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that these werewolves don’t you know, TURN INTO WOLVES! That is the most distinguishing characteristic of werewolves since the very beginning of the mythos! These are basically a group of edgy teenagers dressed in wolf skin who frequently act like wolves without truly becoming one. Give them animatronic fursuits at night, anything to stay true to the werewolf mythos!

[@gentlemanlygeeky4088]

Disney Channel: Think of the budget!!!

[@fightinggamegeek9238]

They could’ve even gone the Teen Wolf route for all I care (furry sideburns, pointy ears, sharper teeth, glowing eyes)! Just have them experience a transformation!

[@kenthuang436]

⁠@@gentlemanlygeeky4088They had a completely furry werewolf in Halloweentown High and that movie aired on the Disney Channel in 2004. This aired in 2020 and 16 years after Halloweentown High. The budget is no excuse given how many special effects the Halloweentown movies had plus needing to pay Debbie Reynolds who was acting royalty during her career and life. You know that Disney had to have paid her a lot to be in the Halloweentown movies.

[@jeremyusreevu237]

The next offender: THIS IS NOT OVER. BEARS! Also, Christopher Walken better be listed as a saving grace, the dude is awesome in that movie.

[@josephrowe849]

He's usually the best part of those kind of films but sadly that alone won't save the movie itself from being such a pathetic mess. It's just Walken taking the bad film seriously by doing his best like always. It's just hard to do a fine performance when one has to work with garbage material. That's why I don't blame the actors and instead my blame is aimed at the writers and the dumbass execs who don't know anything about movies.

[@tylerfish2701]

My favorite so bad, it's good film.

[@Mochitachi70]

So if zombies are black, werewolves are native-americans, and aliens are latin, what would asian people be, vampires? It actually makes sense thinking about them as the "model minority". Very pale, with an "elegant" image and "superior skills"... Not to mention the big overlap between "emos" and "weebs".

[@juliagoodwin9510]

Sshhh! Don't give Disney any ideas!

[@willlyon7129]

I think there are vampires from Asian folklore know as the hoping corpses.

[@Isaac-hm6ih]

I just assumed the awkward immigration metaphors set up for number three would be east Asian.

[@alexisdominey6487]

Actually yes, there were poorly animated shorts released. In between 2 and 3. The vampire was named Vanna (be more creativewith the names writers), it involved a thing "V crystal" (stupid name) it allows her to walk on sunlight (why not call it the Sun crystal). She was trying to find her family (immigrant family separation?)

[@rzionrnrzfm5925]

This is funnier in retrospect now they made the asians aliens. Im not kidding.

[@adamsmoberly]

It also doesn’t help that comparing Native Americans to mythical creatures isn’t a good look either, since that’s a big stereotype in media. Similar to people with Albinism (which I could feel that the main character could be compared to (since people with Albinism only have a condition that isn’t that big, but people treat them as other (like someone who is in a wheelchair or what not), acting like that can’t do things you can (in a sense), makes sense why she hid her “condition” in the first movie; people with Albinism also in parts of the world are considered “magical” (which the wolf pack treats her like) and thus are put in danger of being hunted, so I think maybe Disney may not want to over simplify actual issues people face with the pastel paint).

[@mareofmaers3590]

This is something I've been wondering about quite a bit. Like, isn't it racist to have werewolves be mostly/only Native Americans?

[@Lydia-dd9bo]

Addison is the type of girl to find out she's 0.02% Cherokee and then make it her entire personality. She'd be telling everyone at school about how her grandma was actually a Cherokee princess or something.

[@kenthuang436]

Addison is the type of girl that would be convinced she’s part living doll if she had ever met Chucky. Remember, she must be a part of *all* groups in order to “fit in.”

[@fritzy8318]

Yeah pretty much.

[@urru7749]

So nobody's going to explain why there isn't any werewolf adults?

[@ofthewilderwoods]

The werewolf adults are all sick, only the young people are strong enough to look for the moonstone according to the movie.

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

2 years from this movie released and I STILL trying to figure that one out

[@thema1998]

"Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 2" was a mess that made me frustrated at times but I can't pretend that I didn't enjoy it more than the original! 😆

[@michaeliv284]

Wait. "Silver laced tear gas"? That is going to do more harm than you'd think

[@danielbergonzi7319]

Werewolves are humans that turn into wolves on full moon AS A RULE.

[@thedarknight307]

Yea….the werewolves willingly giving Addison the priceless artifact of her people is NOT something you would want in your anti-Bigotry allegory

[@ryandowney8743]

I can't believe they managed to somehow make even lamer werewolves than the ones in Twilight.

[@colleen4ever]

Especially since in Twilight they confused the legend of the werewolves with the Incredible Hulk. They only transform during a full moon not when they get angry.

[@sawyer6264]

And somehow even more offensive towards Native Americans

[@willlyon7129]

@@colleen4ever This is written by a middle aged Mormon woman who never did her research on folklore of lycanthropy and vampires.

[@michaeliv284]

@@colleen4ever to be fair (proceeds to be violently ill), but there actually is SOME basis for that. Then again, what I found was from the likes of the Balkans... so she still sucks

[@kenthuang436]

@@willlyon7129That’s rather ironic since her religion is based on the claims that some guy randomly found solid gold tablets in his yard and two magical stones to read what was written on them and he could only read said tablets from a hat only once before they went away.

[@alexanderklepp]

I guess you could say that this sequel was marginally better than the first as that one got the 10 sin count whereas this only got 9. I'm also really excited to see the next case. That should be an interesting one to tackle. Some Jerk with a Camera's first video was on that film.

[@mattmclaren3067]

I wish with all might that I could give Bucky dues for being what he is. In conceit, he is fascinating because male antagonists like him just don't exist. He is an effeminate cheerleader who isn't the bitchy lackie or BFF. Like, he is a head cheerleader and extremely popular. With the right intention, that's kind of revolutionary. However, it's hard not to feel the only reason he isn't a girl is, since the main protagonist is a boy, the main antagonist had to be a boy too.

[@timothymclean]

And having the only effeminate male character also be the male antagonist kiiinda feels like it's vilifying gender nonconformity. When I first -read- skimmed the Wikipedia summary, I thought the cheer dude was Zed and the football dude was Bucky, and had a much better opinion of the film.

[@mattmclaren3067]

@@timothymclean absolutely it does have that side to it.

[@miticaBEP07]

Considering the Allison wankery that goes on, a gal would have sufficed.

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

And Disney looooves having camp male characters that they can claim as an inclusion of LGBT people, while never actually confirming that they're gay.

[@mattmclaren3067]

@@PassTheMarmalade1957 very true. The reason I was kind of tempted to give Bucky dues is that, unlike Ryan and Harry (who are very much Sharpay and Uma's underlings), Bucky is pretty much his own boss and that would noteworthy and kind of cool in the right context.

[@VerdantRange]

Really wish the writers of this movie read the fact that whole "wolf packs have alphas thing" is now something that's been debunked.

[@KaminoKatie]

And yet ABO/Omegaverse is a thing in spite of that

[@Cheezbuckets]

Me, in 2022, exhaustedly watching people continue to with werewolf packs with “alphas” just because it’s a convenient excuse for drama/antagonism/lazy plot points. At least Omegaverse isn’t wolf people, it’s based specifically around the “alpha/beta/omega” thing without tying it to alleged wolfness, and you know what, I’m not going to go into that, let’s not have this discussion. XD

[@PhoenixRising87]

I'm creating a series that's basically a cafe sitcom in a world wherein everyone is a fantasy creature wherein I seek to deconstruct that; one of the main characters is a werewolf and a lot of their character is defined by the fact that werewolves are family-oriented creatures, just like real wolves are.

[@Cheezbuckets]

@@PhoenixRising87 That sounds like a really fun concept!

[@cesar6447]

Not at all i mean, the scientist said that the Alpha is basically the parents of the group but at the same time it can be seen in nature one of the children taking the control by killing the father, used to refer to him as "the beta wolf" or the mother or "alpha female" attacking female wolves for trying to reproduce, when it's technically what they have to do, bc "the Alpha female" it's the one who can

[@Rabbitlord108]

Oh boy. *SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT CASE* We're getting TWO episodes based on Disney stuff in a row with the Country Bears film next month.

[@v1de0gamr23]

On the bright side, bad things coming in threes means that the awkward immigration metaphors will be the end of it, and we won't get a "ZOMBIES 4: Witches as an Allegory for the Religiously Oppressed," or "ZOMBIES 5: Vampires as an Allegory for the Differently-Abled" 👍

[@SEGASister]

or “ZOMBIES 6: Sea monsters as an Allegory for LGBTQIA+ People”

[@v1de0gamr23]

@@SEGASister isn't that Luca?

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

@@v1de0gamr23 stop comparing My boy Luca to this bullshit

[@HexManiacQuinn]

Vampires has Carmilla, Lestat and Louis, and a whole historical can of worms regarding gay subtext, so vampires better be the equivalent to LGBT+, or I riot :O

[@v1de0gamr23]

@@HexManiacQuinn maybe, but in folklore vampires debatably have the most aversions: Sunlight, garlic, silver, wood, religious symbols, holy water, running water, knots, seeds, and a whole bunch of others from around the world. I can see a parallel being made between the humans getting upset over having to compensate for vampiric aversions, and the time in American history that prompted the Americans with Disabilities Act

[@oliviamcnally7030]

I was going to say how I’m annoyed that Eliza and Addison never started to hang out since they care about these social issues and want to change them for the better…but then I remember Addison only jumps in on these things when it concerns her.

[@PhoenixRising87]

If I wanted to see more of a dynamic between a white moderate and the Black woman she constantly gets snippy with and dismissive of....well, frankly, I've had enough of those interactions on this very site, so I wouldn't want to see that.

[@AbareKillerFan-yo7pe]

The werewolves look like rejected Kraven cosplayers

[@reasyrandom]

With the Zombies already looking like bad Joker cosplayers, Zombies vs Werewolves are just DC vs Marvel.

[@colleen4ever]

When they're supposed to look like...ya know...wolves!

[@minako10]

The character development reset is probably the most frustrating thing about the HSM trilogy.

[@ilikecurry2345]

8:46 I know it's for the "dog ate my homework" joke, but I'm reminded of the story of a video games-playing KZbinr who told a story about when he was in middle school, he had the last lunch period of the day and he, of course being a growing teenager, was SO HUNGRY by lunchtime that he had to resort to eating notebook paper!

[@timothymclean]

It reminds me of stories that draw attention to their in-setting racism before making the exact same jokes that a racist grandpa in their setting would make. Look, having your catgirl love fish or be distracted by a laser pointer or whatever can be fine, but not if you have a series-long subplot about the oppression of animal-people! Your thing is way more pleasant to remember.

[@colleen4ever]

Diva, ya did it again! Fantastic review and just what I needed after a LONG day of work today! THE COUNTRY BEARS IS NEXT?! YES YES YES YES YES!!!! Oh, I been WAITING for this one!! This is gonna be a great March!

[@calamaria9221]

Honestly Addison deserved Zed's comment considering she acts like having white hair and wearing an expensive realistic wig is worse than being a zombie or a werewolf.

[@kenthuang436]

Well how the here do you expect the skinny rich popular blonde hair blue eyed cheerleader daughter of a city council member who must be the center of all attention by inserting herself into other groups that she doesn’t belong to or fit in with problems whether or not she is affected at all to act?

[@franinconverse]

Eliza once again deserves better and Addison is the worst character

[@kenthuang436]

Zed is no better since he’s a stereotypical cliché of the kid that is in an unpopular group or just often ignored that wants to be popular and thinks the only way to do it is to be good at sports and date the most popular girl in school instead of focusing on his personality and mannerisms to change and adapt so that people will like him for who he is and not what subgroup he represents.

[@pablorivadero5306]

The necklace thing reminds me of Atlantis: The lost Empire.

[@Kitty-the-Bunny]

This is nowhere near the biggest complaint to be made about this movie, obviously, but as a Monster High fan Willa and the other werewolf girl *both* look like knockoff Clawdeen Wolfs and that annoys me

[@kenthuang436]

Anyone else excited to see Diva rip ZOMBIES 3 to shreds? You know she is definitely not going easy on the finale.

[@limelantern5637]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for not using the clips who's audio was used in the Spotify ads. those things were the bane of my existence for a couple months.

[@timothymclean]

I'm sorry, they made a _sequel_ to that mess? Looks like someone forgot to double-tap...

[@animeotaku307]

And there’s still more… This will be fun.

[@trinaq]

Yep, the cash cow goes moo, as long as they can make more money out of a dead horse franchise!

[@timothymclean]

@@trinaq Or undead horse, in this case. Look, enabling bad zombie jokes is the only positive thing this franchise has done.

[@Eviltwin531]

It's Disney, do they even have an IP that doesn't result in three sequels, a spinoff series and enough merchandise to fill the Kennecott Copper Mine?

[@juliagoodwin9510]

Shoot 'em in the head!

[@mezzeara5993]

What I think they tried to do with Eliza was make her the overly woke, annoying, character but ended up making her too reasonable to qualify as such. She has good morals and doesn't actually hate humans in return of their hatred, she simply wants equality.

[@patrickkelmer6290]

5:18 is that the same Forbidden Forest where Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way and Draco Malfoy did it for the first time?

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

Of COURSE Addison can't just be a human with white hair (even though it actually seemed like that was where the movie was going, bucking the cliche.) She gets to be an alien who has had all the privileges of being human while not having to identify as part of a majority group.

[@masterseal0418]

Or a demon born from both demon and human parents? Check Devil May Cry. Dammit, I gave Disney ideas for a third Zombies film. If they didn't accept the ideas of demons and instead take vampires for film three, then it's canon...

[@deen7530]

@@masterseal0418 Man I hope they bring demons in at some point. Can you imagine how bad it'd be?

[@vfvfq1279]

​@@deen7530 I suppose they will probably be all queer coded but all straight and white because ZOMBIE love doing awkward and/or insulting metaphore

[@colleen4ever]

@@masterseal0418 Or Inuyasha. Let;s just hope she doesn;t have a murderous half-brother.

[@aiberlane3390]

I don't expect cinema quality for TV movies aimed at kids, but jeez, these movies just look and sound awful! The zombie makeup isn't even at the level of a trick-or-treater using a cheap Walmart makeup kit, the werewolves are just regular kids with hair streaks, the outfits aren't that eye catching, the script is poor, and the songs just sound forgettable and extremely low budget. It's all so blah, with no effort to make it as good as it can be on a limited budget. I've seen many things made on a limited budget that do so much with what they have available that I either don't realise it was made cheaply, or quickly forget.

[@mackenziegivens6061]

The fact that the next movie is gonna have aliens instead of vampires is probably my biggest pet peeve of this franchise. Like, if you're gonna justify giving this crap 3 movies, you may as well complete the unholy trinity.

[@alexandredesbiens-brassard9109]

Maybe in full these movies are too boring or cheesy to be offensive, but in this condensed form, they come off as really, really, really offensive. As well as really derivative- Native American werewolf? Really? This is such an old trope it's not even funny. It was already old when Twilight did it. Like, the moment I saw that werewold howl at the moon I hirled a f-bomb in the movie direction. And then they go full white savior? Ugh. I'll give the movie this - Allison werewolf glow-up was a hot look.

[@MovieFan1912]

4:09-4:27 You make a good point. In a musical you can establish the story through an opening number or through dialogue, but you can not have it both ways like this movie tries to do.

[@dunes8817]

Makes me wonder what the vampires would be allegories for.

[@timothymclean]

If I were writing this story, they'd be an allegory for the parasitic upper classes. It's an allegory that's been around since basically the minute vampires changed from a bunch of Eastern European folklore into a specific type of monster, and for good reason. Of course, if Z-O-M-B-I-E-S did that, the movie would end with everyone realizing that getting their blood sucked was actually good somehow and having a fun dance party, even though having the werewolves, zombies, aliens, and poor humans band together to overthrow the vampires would be a _way_ better conclusion.

[@Eviltwin531]

For a high school setting and this movie's clumsy, ham-fisted symbolism, I'd venture disabilities. They'd need special equipment for everyday life like sunglasses, they'd be ostracized for not being able to do things with the rest of the students like eat lunch outside, and they could even make a whole thing about receiving backlash for having to ban garlic from the cafeteria that mirrors what happens when schools have to embargo peanut butter for someone with a peanut allergy. I'd better shut up before I give them enough material for Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 4.

[@wingedmirage4226]

I’d say, giving how tone deaf these movies are, that they would make vampires an allegory for poor people “Look at these people leeching off society!”

[@deen7530]

Vampires: Riches-to-rags allegory (because vampires are usually wealthy but then these ones lost their wealth and have to go to Seabrook because its cheaper) Aliens: Immigration allegory Mermaids: Disability allegory (because they can't walk on land, and then then they get leg magic or something and the whole metaphor gets ruined) Fairies: LGBTQ allegory (because geddit, they're FAIRIES! Also, Disney will only imply they are gay and none of them will be trans or GNC) Demons: Mental illness allegory (because they can't help their desires to torture people or something) Man, so many questionable allegories, so little time!

[@colleen4ever]

@@timothymclean One thing with that...zombies HAVE no blood to suck!

[@gentillydanny]

From the studio that brought us "Song Of The South". Yep. Just as believable? Yep.

[@dunes8817]

Ah yes, The Country Bears, aka Disney's answer to The Blues Brothers.

[@reasyrandom]

I honestly prefer Disney's attempts at making feature films out of themepark rides to their live-action remakes. At least you occasionally get something good (POTC).

[@SiRenfield]

First we had Ashe from Overwatch; now we have werewolf Jason Todd? Huh no wonder why he hates all these Joker cosplayers

[@TheDyslexicCosplayer]

Thank you so much this was the best laugh I’ve had all day and I absolutely look forward to seeing the third one whenever you get around covering that :-)

[@medo5417]

Yaaaaas, I've been waiting for ages for this video !!! :)

[@mariaantoniajosephajohanna]

YES! I loved your review of the first one. I've been waiting for you review this one for a while :) So glad you finally got around to it!

[@vfvfq1279]

If I had one nickel for every time that Disney Channel produced a series of musicals using fantasy as a weird and insulting allegory for social problems preaching for the status quo i would have two nickles, but it's weird it happened twice in a row.

[@johnvinals7423]

Was the first time “Descendants”?

[@sarahsims6164]

@@johnvinals7423 yes.

[@vfvfq1279]

@@johnvinals7423 Yes

[@icecreamhero2375]

Star vs. the Forces of evil also did that. They were racist against the monsters. So you would have 3 nickles.

[@MovieFan1912]

Diva’s next case is The Country Bears movie? This should be interesting! “This is not over, Bears!”

[@masterseal0418]

Hell yeaaaaaaah! Let's make that happen!

[@EYTPS]

Pumped for the Country Bears review

[@dionysustheaceson3457]

Can't wait for the 5th movie where they toss in Lovecraftian Monsters into the mix.

[@alionfish5]

But what group are they going to be an awkward and insulting allegory ? Rich Expatriate ?

[@lorenzoshelby6061]

@@alionfish5 maybe biracial or mixed race people 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@willlyon7129]

I think it’s called The Shape of Water.

[@aceinspaces]

Disney really couldn't spend the extra money to get a wig anywhere but Party City for one of their main characters?

[@jbcatz5]

Probably why the werewolves don’t actually transform. No budget to glue fur on rubber Hobbit ears.

[@kenthuang436]

Even RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants have better looking wigs that are cheap than Addison’s hair.

[@jeremyusreevu237]

I can't speak for 2 and 3, because I haven't seen them, but I actually don't mind the original High School Musical. It's cheesy and dumb, but it's charming in its cheesiness. But I get how it can get on Diva's nerves.

[@thefilmwatcher1216]

I haven't seen this or the first one, but Addison looks a heck of a lot like Daenerys Targaryen. I haven't seen Game of Thrones, either.

[@thegayghost872]

It's been confirmed that movie 3 is about aliens, so you're probably right that it'll be a painful immigration metaphor

[@jeremyusreevu237]

I mean yeah, but I'm still interested, because aliens rule. 👽👽👽👽👽👽

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

So if the zombies all wear sneakers and bomber jackets and love hip-hop and rap and breakdancing, and the werewolves all wear tribal facepaint and crystal necklaces and live in the forest with their myths and prophecies, what kind of cringey Hispanic-coded aliens are we in store for?

[@sarahsims6164]

@@PassTheMarmalade1957 how about...green-faced, antenna-wearing people wearing silvery long skirts, dresses, and ponchos?

[@qstionblomens6138]

@@PassTheMarmalade1957 I don’t know, but I do know they’ll be told to “speak English”. We’re in for deep hurting, as the MST3K saying goes

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

@@PassTheMarmalade1957 Mexican/Mars hats?

[@baffledbrandon3132]

19:38-q9:44 They REALLY couldn't think of a better sound effect to use besides crumbling paper?

[@ParsonNathaniel]

Aw! I was expecting the ending gavel to be a clown hammer squeak. *pout*

[@JoeEnglandShow]

Incidentally, that whole "alpha wolf" thing is a myth.

[@KaminoKatie]

And yet ABO/Omegaverse is a thing in spite of that

[@georgeray1906]

Yup and the pack leaders are essentially parents with lots of wolf children.

[@roseofhybrids]

Had no idea they were making a third of these, and apparently it's set to premiere just a week from now on July 15th can only wonder if it'll top the first two's craziness

[@khfan4492]

It does the songs don't but everything else does

[@henrygvidonas9573]

This movie would be a good example to demonstrate why something can be objectively bad while holding a 100% score (with a 63% audience score) on Rotten Tomatoes. Trying to lecture people on racism with horror monsters as metaphors for marginalised and disenfranchised groups has got to be the most disconnected, white suburban, fart huffing thing imaginable.

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

IT HAS A *WHAT*

[@TheLowBrassDude]

Oh god the third movie is going to be aliens isn't it? And I was hoping it'd be Graboids.

[@LoreTheRacoon]

why have so many interesting characters in the movies just to make it all about a white girl with a dye job who feels like a outcast despite not being an outcast like Addison is the vibes of "I'm not like other girls" mixed with "My grandparent said they were 5% (insert race here) so I'm not white ya'll dont you love my new (insert cultural item here) according to my grandparent its (insert completely inaccurate fact)" feels like 2012-2014 middle schoolers

[@joshraid1550]

I have a dumb idea for zombies 4. There are vampires, and vampire hunters are fearmongering about how they’ll infect your kids, but it turns out vampires in this world are not even capable of turning people, vampirism just randomly hits people for no reason. That may or may not be a better metaphor than the other movies have. Or it might be worse.

[@dianakosianka5344]

13:27 - This has White Savior written all over it

[@Orange-tf3bf]

Lmao for a second I thought Zed got hit by a bus and the plot would be dealing with the fallout of that

[@gentlemanlygeeky4088]

If only…

[@timelordvictorious]

Twilight did the same thing with werewolves and the native American people in it. shocked no one has called that out more.

[@fritzy8318]

Multiple people have called out racist it is. The review points out how racist having werewolves be indigenous in general. Turning a group that’s already been considered ‘savages’ being mindless savage animals.

[@TheRoomforImprovement]

“Making a statement gets in the way of making a good story.” Well said.

[@colleen4ever]

Amen!!

[@171QA]

I may not like this franchise but I do love your reviews of it.

[@colleen4ever]

Me too!

[@Sandlot1992]

the Country Bears is up next?! (I think someone is about to review another one of those movies based on a Theme Park ride!)

[@klimmr]

I don't know why they didn't just call this movie Zombies vs Werewolves.

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

the third movies is still called Zombies yet the only zombie with an actual poster is Zed and the werewolves get more spotlight

[@POLE7645]

Can we get the Zombie 2 movie (Zombies, aka Zombi 2) where a zombie fights a shark instead?

[@ClaudetteVioletta]

This franchise really went all ''Let's fight racism 🤴🤜🤛🏿🐵'' didn't it?

[@godzillasaurbuttersworth3176]

Of the DCOM movie series’s, this is easily the most fun to hate-watch. I unironically love high school musical and descendants is often cringey in a not fun way (not knocking people who dig it tho), but this is just. Cartoonishly awful.

[@reasyrandom]

HSM is overhated, Descendants was pure wasted potential, Zombies is just *bad*.

[@johnvinals7423]

@@reasyrandom Like, say what you will about “Descendants”, it doesn’t directly mangle real world issues.

[@shepherdaaron9683]

Maybe the next Zombie musical can have vampires and bring back that Ryan kid form High School Musical who ALSO played a vampire in a musical

[@CheriseChattoway]

Watch the next sequel will reveal that Addison might be an alien next!

[@mierardi88]

Country Bears X? I didn't know they went to space...

[@noahharristheawesome]

This is amazing Diva. Also speaking of Encanto What is your favorite song and moment in that movie?

[@LaineMann]

We all know what the best song is.

[@tylerfish2701]

@@LaineMann We Don't Talk About Bruno!

[@colleen4ever]

@@tylerfish2701 Mine was Under The Surface, mainly cause the character who sings it has my name! So of course neither one of those got nominated for Best Original Song

[@sgtmajor5700]

A new cheer pavilion? WTF? Did the town have a series of cheer pavilions already?

[@Pipkiablo]

I just realized, these movies are literally just if you took Zootopia and Fido and mashed them in a blender until the parts that are actually good about both movies get ground into a bland, flavorless paste and you're left with nothing.

[@iwasanangryyoungman]

It's the raison d'étre for Disney - kinda like the machines processing the "meat" that goes into your garden-variety hot dog

[@cesar6447]

I'm not American but, isn't the prom dance like... The graduation party or something like that? If it is it means the wolves enter in school and were allowed to, in the last three days of school?

[@arnold20139]

For Americans, Prom means different things. Depends on the school, district, state, etc. In most schools it's a giant formal dance party to end off the school year for the graduating class. For me it was just a waste of money and time.

[@remixchild]

Oh sweet Lucifer The third one is coming out July 15, HELMENTS ON!

[@quantummelody2959]

Woooo I was hoping you'd do this one ever since I heard there was a sequel