Review of Zoolander 2 (2016) by Nicholas N — 26 May 2016

If you read my review for the original Zoolander then you would know that I thought the film was (purposely) stupid, but a lot of fun. So, of course, I was actually pretty excited when I heard that a sequel was being planned.

Not that I was waiting with bated breath for the movie, but I thought it'd be cool to see what the characters would've been up to, given with all of the changes in technology, pop culture, fashion, etc.

And there's hints of that here and there, but it saddens me to see that the film is a massive disappointment and, really, ends up feeling like a lazy cash grab on a film that had a fairly sizable cult following.

Say what you will about Anchorman 2, and I know many people have, but at least that movie felt like the cast and crew made the effort to make the best movie they possibly could, even if all the first film's fans weren't entirely satisfied with the sequel.

Now, I'm not saying that Ben Stiller, who directed this film and co-wrote it with several other writers, didn't try his hardest to make a good movie. I just think that they movie they have, at least with this script and this narrative, is better suited for a one-hour Netflix special instead of a full-length feature film.

And maybe one-hour is stretching it far too much, at least in my view. To rectify this empty and shallow script, the film is overloaded, and I do mean overloaded, with celebrity cameos. It's like a bad Muppets movie/episode.

And don't get me wrong, some of the cameos themselves are actually really fun and lead to some memorable scenes. For example, Benedict Cumberbatch's cameo as an androgynous model is tremendous.

It proves Benedict clearly has a sense of humor to put himself in that situation. There's so many cameos, however, that 8 out of 10 end up missing rather than hitting. I honestly can't remember about 85% of the cameos, that's how many there were.

And the fact is that the film relies on the cameos way too much instead of actually trying to make a decent one-hour movie into a good 90 minute one. They had one hour of material, if even that, and the rest of it was filled with celebrity cameos.

And that does not make a good movie. And the fact of the matter is that the film has some really talented comedic actors involved and I think they could've done so much more if left to their own devices than having to rely so much on the cameos.

With people like Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, there's no excuse for the film to end up being anything less than, at the very least, funny. But I think the scripting of the flick hinders more than helps the cast.

What I liked about the first movie is that, while there were cameos, they also managed to mix them in well with the dialogue and the silliness the film dealt in. This film is even more ridiculous than the first one, as if that was even possible, but it lacked the cleverness of poking fun at the world of fashion and modelling.

There's some cool new characters, like the hipster designer that speaks in opposites Like he'd say to Hansel and Derek that he thinks they're lame, but he'll follow it up with how it's an honor to have them model for me.

It sounds stupid, and in theory it is, but I do think that the performance had a lot to do with making the character work. It's obviously a character that had a short shelf life, so he was around just enough for the gimmick to not get old.

But as far as new additions, that's it. I like Kristen Wiig here, but her character was criminally underused. The narrative is practically nonexistent. Zoolander finds that his son is needed for this ritual sacrifice that will result in the fountain of youth being accessible to those that want it, since it's gonna be sold.

Yep, that's it. You'd think that that might carry the film through its 90 minute running length, what with the other various elements going on, but it doesn't. And I'm not saying that the film's narrative had to be good in order for it to be enjoyable.

Because, let's be honest, it's not like the first Zoolander had a fantastic narrative to speak of. But there's just something about this one that feels lazy and uninspired. Perhaps it's not that it's lazy and uninspired, though large parts of it are, it's just how little mileage they get out of it all.

I don't think I can overstate how much of a disappointment this movie is. I thought that a cast and crew of people as talented as there were involved in the making of this film might yield better results, but it didn't.

Instead it relies on an insane number of celebrity cameos to cover up for its very obvious flaws. There's some funny moments here, for sure, but they're very few and they're nearly not enough to make this film worth watching.

I gave this film two stars, maybe I'm being generous, but I didn't think this film was awful. It's ok, at best. It's still not a very good movie, but I didn't find it to be a disaster.

I cannot recommend it in the slightest, of course, but it's not the worst movie I've see. Not by a long shot. With that out of the way, however, that's about it. I got nothing else to say.

If you loved the first flick, don't let the sequel ruin your fond memories.