REVIEW: Zoolander 2 (2016)

The following is a quick review of Zoolander 2 – Directed by Ben Stiller

I really liked the original Zoolander a lot. Sure, it was a dumb comedy, but I still think it’s a really funny and rewatchable film. So I had high hopes for Zoolander 2, even though I knew that sequels to ‘old’ comedies don’t always turn out well. I had seen Dumb and Dumber To – another sequel to a comedy I loved – and that was a huge disappointment. It saddens me to state, however, that Zoolander 2 might be an even worse comedy sequel.

In Zoolander 2, it has been more than a decade since the events of the original film, and a lot has happened since we left Derek Zoolander (played by Ben Stiller) to himself and his new family. His wife, Matilda (played by Christine Taylor), died in a tragic accident and Derek has lost custody of their son (played by Cyrus Arnold).

The retired Derek Zoolander, who now lives under the name Eric Toolander, now lives in New Jersey, but he is soon brought back to modeling when Billy Zane (played by – you guessed it – Billy Zane) shows up and gives him an invitation to a fashion show by the hottest designer in the modeling world.

Derek and his old friend Hansel (played by Owen Wilson) are soon tracked down by Valentina Valencia (played by Penelope Cruz) who informs them of a series of celebrity assassinations. Apparently, all of the dead celebrities took selfies before they died, wherein they did the famous Zoolander look ‘Blue Steel.’ Now they must uncover who is behind the series of assassinations, as well as what Derek’s role is in all of this.

Zoolander 2 peaked pretty quickly for me. In one of the opening scenes Justin Bieber is murdered, but before he dies he manages to take one last selfie, and he even has the time to change the photo filter a couple of times. It’s the funniest scene in the film. It’s only downhill from there, and it’s a steep drop in quality.

For the rest of the film old jokes are recycled to poor effect, not-so-friendly faces return and some of them seem tired of their own roles. Kristen Wiig is wasted, and the many celebrity cameos result in an overcrowded and unfunny film that attempts to cash in on comedy nostalgia and fails to deliver anything noteworthy.

Zoolander 2 is another painful comedy sequel that doesn’t come close to being half as good as the original film. It’s a real shame that this was Ben Stiller’s next comedy. He’s previously shown himself to be a good comedy director with films like the original Zoolander and Tropic Thunder, and had Zoolander 2 not been made I would’ve been much more excited about his future projects as a director.

2 out of 10

– Jeffrey Rex