Of all the Disney+ teen-musical franchises (see "High School Musical" and "Descendants"), "Zombies" overcomes its tense cuddly-zombie premise to become the most unexpectedly pleasing, with its themes of bigotry and Enhanced acceptance with best-in-class. Songs. Given that, there's little joy in reporting that "Zombies 3" on Arrival is creatively dead, reviving the concept at least once.
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The story reassembles the usual suspects, bypassing Disney Channel in favour of Disney+, in a town that has expanded from humans and zombies coexisting to include werewolves and, in a particularly weak flourish, aliens. Of course, the UFO that appears over Seabrook High brings with it yearbook-ready teenagers whose extraterrestrial ancestry is defined by their blue hair and a few dots on their face, but not the kind of face dots that most adolescents are concerned about.
Adding a blink-and-you'll-miss-it environmental message to the mix, the aliens have arrived on Earth in search of a new home, their world having been destroyed by ecological disaster. However, in order to find it, they must first locate Seabrook's most valuable artefact, giving them an excuse to hang out, get to know the gang, and engage in some gravity-defying cheerleading, providing a preview of what the 17th season of "Glee" might have looked like.
In terms of the original cast members, zombie Zed (Milo Manheim) is eager to be the first monster admitted to Mountain College, if only to avoid having to break up with his girlfriend Addison (Meg Donnelly). After all, long-distance relationships can be difficult even before the alien invasion adds a new twist to the phrase.
"Zombies" felt energetic and progressive by Disney Channel standards in 2018, long before the recent conservative attacks on the studio, and the film continues along those lines, with one of the aliens (Terry Hu) representing a non-binary character. However, as it is, almost everything here simply feels louder and clunkier, as if cramming more people into the song-and-dance numbers will make up for their mediocrity.
The exceptions, unsurprisingly, are a reprise of the original film's soulful ballad "Someday" and a new one sung by Donnelly, "I'm Finally Me," which conveys underlying feelings of being different and coming to terms with who you truly are in a way that little else here does.
Disney has been particularly adept at producing young stars as it keeps the musical alive through these teen formats, which are based on a colourful mix of music, magic, and broad comedy. However, such commodities have expiration dates that aren't always easy to predict in advance but become painfully obvious with the benefit of hindsight.
Look no further than "Zombies 3" as a case study that may not require its funeral reading, but should at least set aside an extended rest time before any franchise can be revived. Start thinking about bringing in.
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