Zoolander fans waited 15 years for this?!
Sadly, as time makes the heart grow fonder, it appears that sentiment is not a two-way street. As love for Zoolander has only increased over the last decade and a half, filmmakers Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux did not have enough adoration for their Zoolander fan base and turned in a Zoolander 2 that is truly a… well, a full-on number two.
There really isn’t much of a plot to speak of, other than the fact that Zoolander (Stiller) has withdrawn from the fashion world (and the world at large) due to the fact that he has lost his son, Derek Jr. (Cyrus Arnold) to child protective services. His wife (Christine Taylor) perished in an accident when the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good came crashing down with her inside, due to faulty design that Derek himself oversaw.
Meanwhile, Hansel (Owen Wilson) has himself withdrawn into a more metaphysical world where he is exploring a whole lot of nothing and everything Zen at the same time. The two are brought out of retirement when a series of rock stars are targeted and assassinated (including a crowd-cheering opening sequence featuring Justin Bieber). They all perished with their face frozen in a Derek Zoolander-type pose. Authorities need Derek to return to figure out what is going on. The law enforcement team is led by Interpol’s Fashion Division investigator Valentina (Penelope Cruz – what is she doing in this film?!).
The audience has to know that Mugatu (Will Ferrell) has to be behind this somehow, long before the plot reveals that that may be the case.
That’s just one of the problems of Zoolander 2. Where the first film was wildly original, wildly funny and wildly entertaining, Zoolander 2 feels like little or no effort was put in to the creative process.
Zoolander was a straight-on comedic commentary on the world of fashion. The sequel feels like it is more of a spoof on spy movies, masked as a lampoon of fashion. Sure, legends of fashion appear as themselves (from Tommy Hilfiger to Anna Wintour and more) and the cameos are in the dozens. Sadly, it probably has more cameos than laughs.
The bright spot in this entire picture comes from a quite surprising place. Ferrell is insanely effective as a larger-than-life Bond-type villain. What we saw of Mugatu in the first film was pure fashion foil for Zoolander’s heroics. Yet, in Zoolander 2 Farrell takes on the character in such a way that he is downright psychotically evil. Seriously, he is downright scary. Sure, hilarious in parts, but we could see Farrell playing a psycho film villain in a future film. Seriously Hollywood, make this happen.
Zoolander 2 also suffers from something that is a cardinal sin in the comedy world. The first movie gave us too many quotable moments to count. Other than one or two that are in the Zoolander 2 trailer, we cannot think of any lines in the sequel that will be repeated ad nauseam by movie fans for years to come. Like the film itself, there is just not much there.
Grade: D