Review of Zoolander 2 (2016) by Thequietgamer — 17 Jul 2016

Even as a huge fan of the first Zoolander I found this sequel to be incredibly disappointing. Let's be honest, there was really no reason for it. Especially not after all these years. Ben Stiller proves this by returning as director, writer, and star all the while lacking any truly worthwhile ideas.

The whole thing just seems like Stiller came up with a few good jokes over the years that could fit the Zoolander character, but ultimately not enough to make a complete movie. He then proceeded to make the movie anyway. Rather lazily at that too. In order to fill in the rest of the pieces required to make a Zoolander 2, Stiller threw together a haphazard plot, tossed in some cheap jokes, and filled the movie with a plethora of cameos with the hopes that nobody would notice the lack of genuine humor. It all just feels so cheap.

The world of Zoolander is much more gonzo this time around. It's got so many over-the-top characters and absurd environments. It all not only looks fake, but feels fake as well. A case of style over substance. It's obvious the budget wasn't that high. You can tell the majority of the movie was filmed in front of the world's most obvious green screens.

I do appreciate Stiller's sense of imagination though. He's content to take nothing seriously and has crafted a world where anything can and probably will happen. It's also nice to see a genuine character comedy nowadays. It's just a shame it isn't that funny.

It does it's funny moments though. I can say that the movie did get a few laughs from me. The problem is that they are few and far between. The time in between these gags is spent following a pointless plot and watching countless other jokes fall flat on their face thanks to how obvious they are. I got to give the film credit for Kyle Mooney though. He was a consistently funny presence.

The area where Zoolander 2 disappointed me the most was with it's lack of satire. There are some moments where it pokes fun at hipsters, political correctness, and the except everybody movement, but it's largely lacking in any legit social commentary. Stiller seems to forget what a crucial element that was to the first movie's success.

Zoolander didn't need a sequel. While not entirely bad, Zoolander 2 certainly proves that. It largely forgets what made it's predecessor so great. As a result it's remarkably less funny. I do appreciate that 2001 sense of humor it so desperately tries to bring back into modern times. However Stiller's need to go bigger in order to hide the lack of quality content prevents that from happening. It's a subpar sequel and comedy. One that isn't even likely to satisfy fans of the original. I know it didn't this one.