Tag Archives: Zoolander 2 (2016)

Zoolander 2 (2016) a (mildly) belated review

Released mere weeks in 2001 after the tragedy of 9/11, the original Zoolander was a film that came to theaters and disappeared quickly.  The country, needless to say, didn’t appear to be in the mood for something light and funny at that time.

As this things are wont to do, time somewhat healed the pain of 9/11 and over the subsequent years people caught this film when it appeared on cable and regular TV…and they liked it.  Though even today I don’t think people consider the original Zoolander a comic “masterpiece”, they do acknowledge it is a pleasant, entertaining goof that featured some wild cameos (David Duchovny and David Bowie in particular come to mind) and an almost surreal alternative world plot: What if male fashion models –idiot male fashion models- were the most important people in the world?

Again, while the film may not be a stone cold classic, it had its charm and as a time killer, you could do far worse.

I wish the same could be said of the movie’s very belated sequel, 2016’s Zoolander 2.

While amping up (ridiculously, it must be said) the number of star cameos, this movie also tries to meld James Bondian and DaVinci Code-type plots.  There are laughs to be found, for certain, and some are (IMHO) quite hilarious, but when the film reached its climax I turned to my wife and daughter who sat through this with me and said:

This has to be the stupidest film ever made.

The statement was not intended as a complement.

As I said before, there were moments I found myself laughing and sometimes the laughter was quite loud.  For the most part, and unfortunately, this happened toward the film’s end, when our “heroes” the lame-brained Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller, who also directed) and his equally stupid partner/friend Hansel (Owen Wilson) confront Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell) who, as he did in the first film, is apoplectic at the stupidity of everyone around him.

Good as that joke is, it was done better in the Pink Panther films via Chief Inspector Dreyfus (a hilarious Herbert Lom) and his having to deal with the inept Inspector Clouseau (an equally hilarious Peter Sellers).

The worst problem Zoolander 2 has is that it appeared the story totally got away from Mr. Stiller.  There were moments I couldn’t understand what the heck was happening and the gag cameos, while at times interesting, ultimately felt like they became the movie’s sole reason for being.

For example, as famous as Katy Perry is, her cameo was completely pointless and, even more importantly, not at all funny.  Had Mr. Stiller exerted more self-control over his product, he should have decided that despite her popularity and (I’m certain) the hoops he had to go through to get her into his film, the movie might have worked a little better without that unfunny scene.  Or, barring that, create a funnier scene!!!

The movie also inexplicably hired the usually hilarious Kristen Wiig but chose to hide her behind so much makeup that you can’t tell who she was and, further, she like so many others had precious few humorous things to add to the proceedings.  Later in the film, when the makeup was removed (SPOILERS, I suppose), instead of revealing Ms. Wiig under the makeup we have another actor appear, this time one of the stars of the original Zoolander, as the person hiding behind that disguise.  This actress’ appearance, like many of the cameos within the movie, felt like it was done before a green screen in no more than an hour of time and stitched into the film proper long afterwards.

As for jokes that completely flopped, no bigger example of that was the extended joke involving Hansel’s Harem, which has, among others, Kiefer Sutherland in it.  They kept returning to this joke and it…Just.  Didn’t.  Work.

I could go on and on (why, Sting, why!?!) but suffice to say this film isn’t recommended.  For those out there who so gleefully slagged Ghostbusters, I dare you to compare these two films and not say that Ghostbusters, even with its faults, isn’t a far better product.