Review of Zoolander 2 (2016) by Brett H — 26 Feb 2016

15 years too late, Zoolander 2 is another example of a comedy sequel desperate for attention, having a shell of a concept and hoping that the laughs will fill the gaps; if only there were laughs to be had.

Having loved the original movie, I went into this excited after seeing the hysterical first trailer and had a big smile on my face seeing these buffoons back on-screen, alas, nostalgia is pretty much all this has to offer.

The film picks up 10 years after the original film with a hilarious opening bit with Justin Bieber being assassinated and this is easily the funniest scene in the film; he literally gets shot at least 30 times.

We then get up-to-speed on what's happened in Derek's life since the first one with his wife now dead, his Children's Centre gone, and his son taken away from him for being an incompetent parent; Derek is then pulled back into the world of fashion to prove he's still successful and can get his son back.

It's a very weak plot, but the first film's story was just as ridiculous, but made it work with clever gags and surprising cameos; this film takes the lazy approach. The cameos are just obnoxious this time where it becomes so obvious there was no joke, the appearance of this celebrity is supposed to be funny enough.

Some appearances work like from Benedict Cumberbatch as a "unique" male model, Billy Zane returns from the first, and as said, the Justin Bieber bit was really funny, but the random cameos from Willie Nelson, Katy Perry, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and especially the real-life heads of fashion (Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs, etc) are absolutely atrocious on-screen with no wit to them at all.

The main actors all return and their chemistry and commitment to these characters is still great to see, Derek and Hansel are a great duo, and Mugatu is still hilarious to watch, I only wish they'd developed a sequel earlier.

Newcomers Kristen Wiig and Penelope Cruz do okay, but SNL's Kyle Mooney is absolute garbage and nothing he said was funny. There are some witty gags sprinkled throughout and the talented cast does what they can with the shoddy material, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the results here and while the first one was clever-stupid, this one is just plain stupid.