I wonder why this movie gets such a low ratings here on IMDb. I don't get why people watch those kind of movies if they don't get the humor of it. I will agree that it's ridiculous humor, but it is funny in it's way. I had more laughs then in most other comedies and that says enough to me about the quality of Zoolander 2. I'm not going to compare it with the first one because it doesn't matter. The story itself might be completely ridiculous but then again for this movie to work it has to be completely ridiculous. It's more about the mimics, the clothing, and the way of acting. I thought the whole cast did a very good job. Ben Stiller is just a funny guy. Everything he does is just funny. As well as Will Ferrell. But if you in general don't like those actors you should just not watch their movies because you know what you get with them. To all the haters I can just say stop watching their movies because it will always be the same humor. Ridiculous or not, it doesn't matter, because for some people it's entertainment and it makes them have a good time laughing. To me it does it every time and I hope they will make more movies like this one.
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neil-47619 February 2016Someone is killing off the world's premiere celebrities, and they are all dying on camera complete with the celebrated Blue Steel pout made famous by male supermodel Derek Zoolander 20 years ago. The trouble is that Zoolander has not been seen since he became a hermit crab following the terrible accident which led to the death of his wife and his son being taken into care, so Valentina from Interpol's Fashion Police division has to contact him first. Fortunately, a mysterious package brings him out of hiding: not only Zoolander, but also his once-colleague and friend Hansel...
The amazingly dim Zoolander and the slightly less dim Hansel finally get a sequel 15 years later. It has a plot which is every bit as daft as the movie as a whole – this is one of the silliest movies I have seen for quite some time. It is also very funny, frequently laugh-out-loud funny. And it is filled with cameos, ranging from fairly extensive appearances which have strong bearings on what happens in the film, to blink and you'll miss 'em appearances on a computer monitor.
Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell reprise their sillinesses from last time, and it is a pleasure to see Penelope Cruz being every bit as silly, and fully prepared to make herself look daft. I wasn't prepared to see some very big names from the fashion world (not that I know much about it, but I do read the papers) taking part in sending themselves up fairly mercilessly.
I enjoyed this greatly. -
grantss17 December 2016It is 15 years since we last caught up with male model Derek Zoolander and his friend and fellow-model Hansel. Since then both their lives have taken turns for the worst. Zoolander's School for Kids Who Can't Read Good literally collapsed, killing his wife and injuring Hansel. Zoolander's son was then taken away from him by Social Services. Both Zoolander and Hansel are now has-beens, living lives of recluses. However, several pop stars have recently been murdered. Interpol are investigating and discover that they all had a Zoolander-invented look on their face when they died. Zoolander and Hansel are called in to help solve the murders.
The original Zoolander was quirkily funny and reasonably clever, despite some of the hijinks. Most of all, it made fun of the pretentiousness and undeserved self-importance of the fashion industry.
Zoolander II has flashes of this, but generally resorts to a zany plot and pop-cultural references for its humour. Not as clever or funny as the first, but still entertaining, nevertheless.
It is an uneven ride though. While there are some great in-jokes, self-parodying cameos and clever skits, some scenes and "jokes" are just plain stupid.
On the whole, entertaining. While not profound or anywhere near being a comedy classic, it is never dull, doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't overstay its welcome. -
Prismark109 May 2016Fifteen years after the original comes this unfunny sequel with plot and jokes written on the back of a cigarette packet.
The opening is promising enough with Justin Bieber as a series of pop singers have suddenly died with a certain look in their face. The look is associated with Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller.)
In the meantime Derek has hit rock bottom when a building he designed collapsed killing his wife, he has lost his son to the authorities and hit rock bottom. However he is reunited with his old rival Hansel McDonald (Owen Wilson) also facially scarred in the building collapse and they are sent on a mission by the Interpol Fashion Police led by Valentina Valencia (Penélope Cruz) to find out who is killing these celebrities and why do they have one of Zoolander's signature look.
There are plenty of celebrity cameos, some fun poked at the fashion industry and Derek wanting to get his son back. The plot is a pot pourri of different story strands meshed together but it is never coherent. There is nothing really funny going on, it is absurd but the jokes consistently miss the mark. -
themadmovieman9 February 2016I really liked the original Zoolander, with its unique brand of cleverly dumb comedy, but I never thought we needed a sequel. Nonetheless, when Zoolander 2 was announced, I was looking forward to it, and with a couple of pretty entertaining trailers, I thought that this wasn't going to be one of those awful comedy sequels.
Oh, how wrong I was.
I'm sorry to say that Zoolander 2 is easily one of the worst comedy sequels I've ever seen. Apart from a couple of chuckles, it failed to make me laugh on a consistent basis, further angering me as it got more and more boring and irritating as the film unfolded. Its story makes absolutely no sense, and the narrative gets completely tangled up on numerous occasions, destroying any enjoyment you could have found in the film away from the terrible comedy, making this a thoroughly dull and difficult movie to watch from start to finish.
The main thing we have to talk about here is how bad the comedy is. All comedy sequels are tough to do, but normally, by keeping everything pretty similar, you can get an entertaining movie. The problem with Zoolander 2 is that it completely fails to deliver the brilliant sense of humour that first film had.
The original Zoolander wasn't a dumb film, in fact it was a really clever comedy that centred around a dumb character. The jokes were well-written, and the majority of the humour stemmed from those main characters. In the sequel, however, the comedy is just dumb. Relying WAY too heavily on celebrity cameos for cheap laughs, and just completely underwhelming gags on a constant basis, there's very little to laugh at.
I will admit I chuckled a couple of times. Benedict Cumberbatch's slightly offensive transgender character that you've seen in the trailers was pretty good, and a couple of the jokes they did satirising modern social media and hipsters etc. weren't too bad either.
Apart from that, this is a hugely unfunny film, and I'd say about 95% of all of the jokes completely miss the mark. Sometimes, when there was a joke, it would take me a few seconds to realise that it was actually meant to be funny. And when I say sometimes, I mean pretty much all the time, which shows you just how unfunny this is.
Now, that's the main objective of a comedy: to make you laugh. But, seeing as that failed completely in Zoolander 2, maybe the story could have salvaged something.
No, it didn't. The plot here is absolutely atrocious. Whilst the first film had a clear focus, Derek being brainwashed to kill the Malaysian Prime Minister, everything in the sequel is all over the place. At some points they're looking for the assassins, sometimes they're just trying to do fashion, sometimes they want to find Derek's son, and all sorts of other rubbish that made this a hugely messy film that failed to interest or entertain me at any point.
Now, I've been really harsh to Zoolander 2 here, and although I think it definitely deserves heavy criticism, there is one thing that I do have to praise, and that's Ben Stiller's directing. Much like the first film, Zoolander 2 looks very stylish, just like the world of high fashion should be. Every scene is fantastically put together, the action sequences are brilliantly choreographed, and it is generally a very nice film to look at.
That's it for positives, though. Overall, Zoolander 2 was a painfully disappointing film. It completely fails to live up to its predecessor, but most importantly, it almost never makes you laugh, and with such a huge amount of jokes coming your way, it becomes quickly annoying and horrendously dull to watch. -
Furrystoat13 July 2016While not a grand, sweeping epic of timeless storytelling, Zoolander 2 is a competent comedy with a few genuinely funny moments. Not my lifetime favorite, but one that I'd recommend to fans of the Zoolander 1 release. It's lighthearted silliness, nothing more.
One reason for the low IMDb ratings which may not be apparent to the casual reader is that there is a political agenda at play with this movie. Prior to its release, gay activists and their fellow- travelers became upset at the way one character was portrayed, a character of intentionally-indeterminate sexuality ("All"). Instead of laughing it off in a friendly, adult manner, the perpetually- offended launched a petition to boycott the movie.
Do a web search for 'zoolander 2 petition' to see for yourself.
With traditional Hollywood spinelessness, the character "All" was severely edited and some scenes featured in trailers do not appear in the final cut. Despite this, the activists continue to bash the movie mercilessly, rarely if ever admitting their true motivations for doing so.
No, it's not a 'ten star movie' but it's not deserving the extremely low, dishonest ratings and scathing reviews that it's getting here at IMDb either. -
michaeltong-291804 May 2016If you're a fan of the first film it's at least worth a watch. While the film feels disjointed and situations are forced, it still has a few really funny moments.
Like many sequels it suffers from trying to have too many callbacks to the first film. A lot of jokes are shoehorned in for a quick laugh.
One of the problems is that in a weird way the film is almost too silly. The original felt way more grounded despite being totally absurd at the same time. The two elements contrasted very well and enhanced the humor.
I'm a bit disappointed that this is the best they could come up with after all this time but I can't say I wasn't entertained and that I didn't laugh. -
spaceyemperres16 March 2023The movie was produced. It had actors in it, who played roles that were in the film. It was edited by a team who pieced the audio and the picture together. The marketing team existed and said things in favor of it. It cost a certain amount to produce and make back a different amount of money. It was screened at theaters who showed the full length of the movie to anyone who would buy tickets. This all occurred because the executives were given the idea and then green-lit it to be produced. All in all, what we can say without a doubt is that Zoolander 2 is, and always will be, a film that exists.
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schroeder-gustavo12 March 2016Zoolander 2 is once again directed by Ben Stiller and we get to see Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell and Stiller himself return to their former roles, which is the one positive thing I can say about this movie. The cast is still good in their roles. Derek and Hansel are still the same characters and they play them with enthusiasm and Mugatu is well, OK. Sadly, everything else is pretty much garbage. The humor did not work at all and I just wanted it to be over. After 5 minutes of the movie I was just exhausted. This is a clear example that bigger does not mean better. I am a fan of the original Zoolander and one of the things I liked about that film is that it was just a small comedy with a relatively small budget and it evolved as a cult film. Zoolander 2 tries to be bigger than the first one and it just doesn't work. The first was pretty much about Mugatu trying to hypnotize a male model to assassinate the prime minister of Malaysia. That was the plot. Stupid? Definitely, but it worked in its own right. This one's about Derek trying to locate his son, while male models are being assassinated, which actually did not pay off at all in the end.
The movie is filled with unnecessary cameos and there can be too much of a good thing. It happened last year with the Entourage movie and now with this. Like I said, everything is bigger, the scope and even the effects, but what Stiller and his production crew don't get is that what made the original Zoolander so funny and good was that it seemed like they were taking a chance. It was kind of cheap and small but it worked.
The film doesn't work at all but I'll say this: At least it didn't feel cynical. To me it seemed like they were actually trying to make a good film and a funny one but it just did not work. The humor is mostly like people getting hit in the face and stuff like that. The movie also tries way too hard to recall on things from the original that were funny. As a fan of the original and as a moviegoer in general, I would not recommend Zoolander 2. I laughed 5 times in the whole movie. I counted them. And as a comedy that's the main problem with the movie: It was not funny.
1.5/10 -
eddie_baggins14 February 2016They waited 15 year for this? When watching Zoolander 2 this was one of my first and most prevalent thoughts throughout Ben Stiller and co's return to the world of high stakes fashion, along with the questions of when is this about to get funny and why am I not watching Deadpool? In 2001 and the years that followed soon after, Zoolander shrugged off both disappointing box office returns and so-so critical receptions to become a huge home entertainment hit that secured it a place on many peoples DVD shelves and a fond place in their memories as a crazy but downright hilarious skewering of the fashion industry and people that are just ridiculously good looking.
Zoolander was both enjoyable for the audience and clearly the cast and director and star Ben Stiller got some great comedic turns out of himself, Owen Wilson and the then still rising Will Ferrell, not to mention a collection of memorable cameos and the simple story of male model Derek Zoolander saving the Malaysian prime minister was easy to digest and easy to like.
Two things Zoolander 2 is not.
Tired, flat, unimaginative and downright sad in many ways, Zoolander 2 see's almost all of the first films main cast return but even though they're there on face value, whatever charms or charisma they bought to their respective roles in the first place are no longer on show here. Stiller delivers what could be his most lacklustre lead performance of his career, making Derek hard to like and his delivery of jokes are worryingly miscued, as evidenced by a near silent cinema audience I watched the film with. The rest of the cast don't fare much better with Owen Wilson getting a few moments whilst Penelope Cruz will be one day regretting her turn here and Will Ferrell barely gets a chance to unleash his typical barrage of OTT centrepieces.
With a cast off their game, Zoolander 2's only hope of redemption laid in its narrative but with an overly loaded plot that somehow throws in the fountain of youth, sacrificial offerings, prison breakouts, father son bonding and more celebrity cameos than you can poke a selfie stick at, the first films simple set up is overtaken here by an uninteresting barrage of ideas, and when Justin Bieber is your most memorable moment, it's clear there are big problems for your film.
A movie that's both hard to laugh with and hard to laugh at, Zoolander 2 has very little chance of being fondly looked upon by anyone that found the first adventure even slightly entertaining. A not even half baked attempt to recreate successes of the past this comedic train wreck of a vanity project is likely to quickly fade from the public's memory, much like Billy Zane's career.
1 prolonged (and satisfying) demise of Justin Bieber out of 5 -
Here is the thing - too many times I have made a mistake to watch a film only based on it's IMDb rating or reviews.
This crucial piece of information that is missing here is:- who is rating/reviewing the title?
- which other films did the one love/hate?
That is why I want to give some information about me before giving my two cents on Zoolander2:- 35 year old male
- as a kid I loved Mel Brooks films, Hot Shots Franchise, Jim Carrey Works...
- I love brother Farrelly comedies
- I enjoy most of Ben Stiller works (Cable Guy, Tropic Thunder...)
Now, with this information in mind, we can proceed:
In spite of bad ratings I chose to watch this one, and I didn't regret it. It is a well crafted over the top comedy with some clever and satirical gags.
Because of the fact that it's over the top - from start to finish, I don't have any problems with the story.
I guess it just depends on the mindset and maybe the mood. Both me and my wife had many laughs during the whole film.
Was it predictable? Yes. But I wasn't expecting it to be any different :)
I hope this helps.
Peace out. -
ferguson-611 February 2016Greetings again from the darkness. Here comes yet another write up where I am out of step with the majority of film critics. While most are heaping hatred on it for idiocy and self-obsession, my response is isn't that the point of a sequel to Zoolander, itself a tribute to idiocy and self-obsession? Maybe the difference stems from my not being a big fan of the 2001 original. Granted, the sub-plot of child labor from the original was (and remains) a real world issue, while this one is fuzzy-focused on a plot to kill the beautiful people in hopes of finding the fountain of youth less real world tragedy and more like holding a mirror up to society's insecurities.
The fashion industry was skewered in the original, but couldn't wait to embrace this sequel. In the 15 years since that first Zoolander, a symbiotic relationship has formed between TV – Movies – Music – Fashion. The lines are blurred now that actors have become models and models are acting. TV shows are built around fashion and fashion shows boost music. And all of these elements are tied into the explosion of social media outlets. The greatest impact yet is probably the fact that most every person has a camera (phone) attached to them at all times and in every environment we have a citizenry of selfie-taking models.
What can't be denied is that the sequel is a smörgåsbord of celebrity cameos (some might call it overkill). There are times the cameos pop up so fast that it's challenging to keep up. Spotting the celebs, following the sight gags and catching the one-liners that's the tripod on which writer/director/star Ben Stiller has built his Zoolander second home. Though it's not as quotable as the original, the production value is much improved. Never is this more evident than the slick looking opening chase scene that sets the stage for national narcissism being attacked for the next 90 minutes.
Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson return as male models Derek Zoolander and Hansel, though when we first see them, they have been in years-long hiding Derek claiming to live as a "hermit crab". The film begins by catching us up on why they are in hiding (it's related to Derek's Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good), and what's up with others like Mugatu (Will Ferrell), Derek's wife Matilda (Christine Taylor), and Billy Zane (Billy Zane). The gag is that Derek and Hansel are now "old and lame" literally out of fashion in fashion.
As with most comedies, it's best to avoid the trailer and any details or punchlines before walking into the theatre. You need only know that the old favorite characters are still here and an army of new ones (including Penelope Cruz and Kristen Wiig) arrive – some for a few scenes, others for only a few seconds. Satire is still the name of the game and the biggest fashion icons are front and center: Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Valentino, Anna Wintour and "both Wangs". A big assist goes to Kiefer Sutherland who joins in the fun of poking fun at his own image. There's even a jab at celebrity political endorsements with the line "She's hot. I trust her."
Justin Theroux is back as Stiller's co-writer and also plays a role in the sub-plot involving Derek's son, and the script proudly plays homage to the original (as it should) while still moving into contemporary themes (as it should). So "Relax" (nod to Frankie) and take in the fun. It's the type of fun akin to riding a roller coaster fun while it lasts, and over when it's over. To paraphrase Derek, it's a 'really really ridiculously' good time. -
Troy_Campbell12 February 2016Die-hard fans of the ridiculously good-looking Derek Zoolander and his so-hot-right-now supermodel buddy Hansel, brace yourself for disappointment. For this sequel is an almighty dud that tries its hardest to tarnish the hilariously silly awesomeness of the original. With more flat jokes and unintentional cringe-worthy moments than a typical Adam Sandler flick, this belated follow-up not only fails to recapture the idiotic glory of its predecessor but also struggles to muster more than the odd half-hearted giggle. Where the bone-headed jokes of the original were ripe for beer-assisted laughs, here they're stale, try-hardish and painfully unimaginative, relying too heavily on aping old gags instead of bringing Derek and Co. into 2016. Ben Stiller (as the eponymous male model), Owen Wilson (as the laconic stud Hansel) and Will Ferrell (as colourful megalomaniac Mugatu) commit 100% to their fan-favourite roles, yet their admirable efforts can't elevate the pedestrian script. There are cameos galore but majority of them are misplaced and forced – with a brief appearance by Sting offering the only glimmer of entertainment – whilst a bizarre CGI-face-replaced character is unfathomably pathetic and epitomises all that is wrong with this sequel. It doesn't quite reach the comedic lows of say Ted 2 or The Campaign, however Zoolander 2 is an embarrassingly weak movie that dissatisfies deeply.
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supatube10 February 2016Zoolander (the original) was such a quirky parody of the fashion world. It carried a genuine tongue-in-cheek mockery of the entire industry and blew up 'their' ridiculousness to the max.
Lets begin with the positive: Kristen Wiig as Alexanya Atoz is pure performance art. The styling and make-up is so on point. But even more impressive is her wicked accent. It was, hands down, the funniest aspect of the film. Every time she opened her mouth I died. Could not contain the laughter. Her dedication to that character's weird speech pattern was super impressive. The cameo performances were a delight in the original and that has managed to follow through effortlessly. More cameo's that are more irreverent and more outrageous than before. The cameos at the end are truly worth while. The few in the beginning are forgettable. The actors conviction. I cannot fault any of the actors for not putting in their best, assuming the material to work with was fairly weak to begin with, I found the actors conviction to the characters totally playful.
So what went wrong with this second installation? Quite honestly, it was the shift away from a parody of the fashion industry, moving towards a Wayans' brothers spoof of a spy film with a dash of espionage. And like any Wayans brother movie one can expect cheap visual gags to fill up free space - there's some really great lines in the film though (really great). Who thought that Zoolander 2 should shoot for the stars at 1h45m? The original barely hit 1h30m, that film had all that set-up and introduction to the world of Zoolander. Part Deux could have dived right in but instead played splish-splash with some really juvenile humour.
Yes, Zoolander is an idiot. He's an annoying character. A total self involved tool. But they save him from being despised by allowing the audience to laugh at him. Allowing us to point our fingers at his ridiculous face and laugh till the tears run. But that playground fun time is now over, forced to laugh with him. There's very few sidebar comments that grab our attention and remind us, 'Oh, Zoolander is a douche', not just an idiot.
Other than that Zoolander 2 is a totally run-of-the-mill comedy, nothing too special or outrages, nothing too memorable our outstanding. Fun but not overwhelmingly so. -
zardoz-1314 February 2016Any movie that opens with pop-singer Justin Bieber getting riddled with machine gun bullets cannot be all bad. "Zoolander 2" qualifies as zany, zippy, and zensational! Indeed, sequels rarely deliver the goods as well as the originals. Nevertheless, "Zoolander 2" is twice as funny as its fashion spoof predecessor. Actor, writer, & director Ben Stiller waited 15 years before he revived this iconic idiot, and this polished sequel with Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell qualifies as simply sidesplitting. Meaning, if you love to laugh at morons, this frivolous, fast-moving comedy of errors is sure to please. Rather than rehash "Zoolander," Stiller and "Zoolander 2" scribes Justin Theroux, Nicholas Stoller, and John Hamburg have dished up something different that is devastatingly dopey. The villains don't brainwash Derek Zoolander to bump off a prominent prime minister to prevent passage of sweatshop labor reforms. Instead, our heroes thwart the villain who wants to eliminate all rival clothing designers. Similarly, like the original, "Zoolander 2" glitters with a constellation of star cameos equal to its antecedent, featuring Macaulay Culkin, Billy Zane, Sting, Lenny Kravitz, John Malkovich, Kiefer Sutherland, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, M.C. Hammer, Susan Boyle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tommy Hilfiger, Willie Nelson, and Kim Kardashian West. For the record, Stiller made his premiere appearance as Derek Zoolander in 1996 at VH1 Fashion Awards. Happily, sight gags and shenanigans galore ensue as our past-their-prime male supermodels emerge from exile to reestablish their dominance in the fashion world.
"Zoolander 2" unfolds with an atmospheric homicide straight out of a crime thriller. Two anonymous assassins in leather jackets and helmets who wield machine guns pursue a mysterious figure on foot and corner him in a dark alley in Rome. The doomed quarry turns out to be Justin Bieber. One of the gunmen peppers Bieber's chest with a hail of lead. Sinking mortally wounded to his knees, Bieber warns his assassin that they will never achieve their ghoulish goal. The audacious villains out have targeted the "world's most beautiful people" for extermination. The Bieb takes a selfie, draws his last breath, and dies with a goofy 'Blue Steel' expression. Special Agent Valentina Valencia (Penélope Cruz of "Bandidas") and the Interpol Global Fashion Division launch a search for Derek Zoolander. Zoolander, it seems, made 'Blue Steel' his signature expression. At this point, director Ben Stiller and his three scribes pull off something impressive for any sequel. Not only do they seamlessly bridge a 15 year gap with the original, they also concoct a new adventure for our heroes. We are treated to a timeline of the calamities that has transformed Derek Zoolander's life into a nightmare. "Zoolander 2" picks up with news about the destruction of the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too. Derek's wife Matilda (Christine Taylor of "The Wedding Singer") died when the center collapsed on her because it was constructed of Popsicle sticks and glue. Later, Derek proves himself an unfit father, and Child Services rescue Zoolander's son Derek Jr., and takes him into protective custody. The loss of his son came about when a neighbor caught Zoolander on video trying to figure out how to cook spaghetti. Tearfully, Derek retires once again from modeling, labels himself "a hermit crab," and withdraws to a cabin in "extreme northern New Jersey," where he grows a billy goat beard. Meantime, Hansel has suffered, too. The tragic Zoolander Center collapse left him with an unspeakable scar across his right cheek that terrifies Derek when he finally gets a glimpse of it. Let's not forget Zoolander's nemesis, clownishly coiffed clothing designer Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell of "Stepbrothers"), who returns to incite greater anarchy for Derek and Hansel. Mind you, the authorities handed the wicked Mugatu a stiff prison sentence, and the European Union Fashion Prison, where he serves time, resembles a gargantuan sewing thimble. Mugatu is chained by the neck to a huge pole at the center of a room with a "Silence of the Lambs" vibe to it. Eventually, he overwhelms our harebrained hero and escapes. Ultimately, Hansel reconciles his differences with Zoolander, and they set out to track down the elusive Mugatu. Along the way, our heroes wind up in Rome after Billy Zane bears them each a message with an invitation from a fashion diva Alexanivya Atoz (Kristen Wiig of "Bridesmaids"), a Donatella Versace knockoff, to attend her show. Long-suffering Derek is reunited with his long, lost son (Cyrus Arnold of "Hardcore Harry") at a Roman orphanage. Initially, Derek doesn't recognize junior because the younger Derek is obese.
Naturally, Derek and Hansel are still as 'dumb and dumber' as they were in "Zoolander." They have no idea what they have gotten themselves into when they arrive in Rome. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson haven't lost their charismatic camaraderie, and they surpass themselves as the super-simpletons. The evil Mugatu remains as monstrous as usual, but this time he cradles a stuffed doggie rather than the real thing. Will Ferrell looks as absurdly ridiculous as he was in "Zoolander," and he overshadows everybody with his hilarious antics. The scene where Ferrell keeps tearing off disguises generates non-stop laughter. Spanish-born beauty Penélope Cruz appears sexy in a swimsuit when she saves Derek's life. Some of the "Zoolander 2" gags are genuinely imaginative. When Zane brings Derek a message at the beginning, the message comes in a box that projects a hologram of Alexanya as she addresses Derek. Of course, this is reminiscent of the original "Star Wars" when R2D2 displayed a hologram of Princess Leia. Stiller staged the snappy PG-13 exercises in hilarity on location in and around the Eternal City, and Rome, Italy, has never looked more exotic thanks to "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens" lenser Daniel Mindel's dazzling widescreen cinematography. As expected, Leesa Evans' costume designs are appropriately outlandish to suit the occasion. Anybody who laughed themselves silly at the first "Zoolander" should enjoy "Zoolander 2." -
digdog-785-71753812 May 2016I am a MASSIVE Zoolander fan. I love the first film and i think it has some touches of brilliance in it; there are many memorable scenes and quotes which frequently come to my mind - watching it was a really positive experience.
Zoolander 2 is nowhere near as good.
First off, i can see that a ton of money has been thrown at the screen: the many cameos (not bad in themselves), the superb production quality, the sets, the costumes, everything is top notch.
So, how can it be worse than the first?
Well, if you think about it, Zoolander 1 was a bad film. It was a stupid, idiotic film about two retards who have barely the necessary intellect to breathe. On its own, it should be near-unwatchable.
But, everything in Z1 was done in moderation; the gags fit the story and the characters. The plot was easy to follow, the scenes led from one to the next, the cameos served as punctuation, rather than as filler.
Zoolander 2 on the other hand overdoes it to the limit. There is just too much disjointed crap for me to tell when something is supposed to be over the top on purpose, there's too much forced laughter, there's just too many scenes which do not fit in with the bigger picture - you could delete a dozen scenes and this would not affect the plot.
In brief, Z1 is a good film, Z2 is a bad film, because of "reasons".
You can still go watch it, but do not expect anything near the quality of the first film.
My vote: 6/10 - a shallow and not very funny comedy. -
CANpatbuck366411 October 2016Its crazy to think that Zoolander was made 15 years ago. I don't remember it very well, I thought it was decent at the time, it wasn't my favourite Ben Stiller movie (Tropic Thunder) but it was okay. I do remember how it had a big following and I'm not surprised they made a sequel. I'm just surprised it took this long to make. I still went into Zoolander 2 with low expectations, the word of mouth on it wasn't exactly stellar but I always try to keep an open mind. I can't help but think that this one was made for the die-hard fans of the original but I'll get into more about that later.
*Minor Spoilers Ahead* It's been 15 years since the original Zoolander and after the assassination of Justin Bieber, who is mysteriously gunned down outside of Sting's house in Rome. The mystery surrounding his death confuses the Interpol Fashion Division and their lead agent Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz) as there have been a rash of murders of famous pop stars and they all have mysteriously died with their final expression being Derek Zoolander's famous "Blue Steel" look.
We then flash to a summary of what has happened to Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and his rival Hansel (Owen Wilson) leading up to present day. Soon after the events of the first movie, Derek's wife Matilda Jeffries (Christine Taylor) died tragically in the collapse of the school that they built together, The Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too which Derek had constructed out of the same materials that he made the model of the school out of. The accident unfortunately disfigured Hansel and triggered a downward spiral for Derek. His inability to parent his son Derek Jr. led to him being taken away from him and Derek decides to live out his days as a "hermit crab." Derek is content until Billy Zane delivers a message to him that he's in demand again and that he's been invited to take part in a fashion show for current fashion icon Don Atari. Billy Zane also delivers the same message to Hansel who is more than eager to run away as he's impregnated several members of his orgy including Keifer Sutherland. Both of them take the gig and meet up at the airport. They bicker and come to terms with the fact that they're working together again. They head out and meet up with Don Atari (Kyle Mooney) who is excited for their arrival.
The most impressive thing about Zoolander 2 for me is the sheer number of people that Ben Stiller was able to assemble in the cast. They have new cast members like Penelope Cruz but the cameos are almost endless: Katy Perry, Kiefer Sutherland, Sting, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Neil DeGrasse-Tyson, Benedict Cumberbatch and that's just some of them. I didn't find many of them particularly funny or memorable (actually Benedict's is just because his part is so crazy) but it's impressive nonetheless.
The actual cast of the movie is serviceable, I can't say that anyone is amazing or Oscar worthy but I didn't think there were any terrible performances either. Neither Ben Stiller nor Owen Wilson are stretching but they're consistent. They know how to play these roles, I just didn't find them funny. Penelope Cruz doesn't really gel with the dumb fun tone of the movie. She's not a comedienne by trade and it shows but at least she's trying. Will Ferrell returns as Mugatu and he's okay, other than Stiller and Wilson, he seems like the only one who gets what the movie is going for. Kristen Wiig on the other hand was a weird addition, she gets almost nothing to do and it seemed like a waste having her in such a small part.
My dislike of the movie boils down to 2 problems. The first is that the plot is really stupid. I get that's point and you don't have to have an award winning screenplay to make a great comedy (I like a lot of Will Ferrell's movies which have similarly dumb plots) but for a movie that took so long to get made, I would thought there might have been a little more to work with than this. Even Mugatu calls out how stupid the story the movie is built on is in a meta joke, it doesn't make up for it though. The other problem is that the movie isn't funny. I barely laughed at all, maybe a couple of times here and there but not nearly enough. The most positive thing I can say is that it's more of what fans of the first would want. If that's what the movie wanted to do, I think they achieved it but it didn't do it for me.
I remember that this movie was going up against Deadpool the weekend it was released. It got smoked and after seeing it, maybe rightly so. I'm not generally a big Ben Stiller fan but it would have been nice if this had been a great movie to reward the fans of the original for the wait. I can't recommend this and in giving it a 4, I think I'm being generous. It's not much better than The Boss and I can't imagine I'll be watching it again. -
Way back in 2001, Ben Stiller's original Zoolander, was little more than an extended Saturday Night Live sketch, stretched out for 90 minutes of hit-and-miss comedy. Despite the wafer-thin premise of lampooning the fashion industry and the shallow celebrities who inhabit it, there was a clumsy charm about it and much fun to be had with its loose, zany approach. 15 years on and Stiller delivers a sequel that nobody was really asking for, and the movie's awareness of the first's quotable, make-it-up-as-we-go-along dialogue and unapologetic daftness is ultimately its downfall. That, and being painfully unfunny.
The movie's opening sequence informs us that Derek Zoolander's Centre for Kids who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn to do Other Stuff Good Too collapsed in a disaster after being built using the same materials used to build the small-scale model, killing his wife Matilda (Christine Taylor) and damaging the beautiful face of his old friend Hansel (Owen Wilson). His child is eventually taken away from him when his parental skills are called into question, so Zoolander retreats into the frozen wasteland of New Jersey and turns his back on the fashion industry. Hansel has also retired, choosing instead to spend his time in the deserts of Malibu with his orgy of 11 fellow sex fiends, all of whom he has impregnated (including Kiefer Sutherland).
When Billy Zane arrives with their Neflix orders, he persuades them to return to the catwalk for ultra-hip designer Don Atari (Kyle Mooney), an annoying yet on-the-nose hipster who hates stuff because he loves them and vice versa. This is not the only plot thread in this convoluted mess of a film, as the tale of Zoolander braving a return to the world he feels he no longer has a place in was the exact same plot as the first film. We also have new villain Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig), the return of Mugatu (Will Ferrell), Interpol agent Valentina Valencia (Penelop Cruz) who is tracking Zoolander and Hansel to help investigate the murders of music celebrities, some mythological nonsense about the Fountain of Youth, and the horrifying revelation that Zoolander's now-teenage son is, yes, fat and ugly.
It took four writers - Stiller, Justin Theroux, Nicholas Stoller and John Hamburg - to pen the movie and 15 years to think about it, and a tedious merry-go-round of re-hashed jokes, shoehorned celebrity cameos and eye-rolling innuendos ("Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher? Tonight is gonna be a total Jack-off!") is quite unbelievably the best they could come up with. By the time Mugatu arrives and the climax kicks into gear, you'll still be waiting for everything to somehow make sense. Up to this point, the most fun there is to be had is trying to spot all the famous faces (the funniest and most bizarre is a barely recognisable Benedict Cumberbarch) while Zoolander is left scratching his head trying to integrate into a world now so overcome by self-obsession. To make this point, we are made to suffer through endless social media gags that feel like the ramblings of a man trying desperately to fit in with the cool crowd. Even if you love the original, avoid at all costs. -
While the first "Zoolander" movie is a cult classic, this one probably won't be. What made the first "Zoolander" movie work is because of it's clever execution. This one tries to go in a direction where it tries to over do the antics that is similar to the first one. Without any of the clever humor that was in the first one. This movie goes in a direction where it thinks it's funny because people act overly stupid. Now sometimes dumb humor works, but the whole thing depends on people just acting dumb in a super exaggerated manner. And a lot of cameos with pop culture references to make the whole thing work and for the most part it doesn't. It's still watchable movie, that I was able to sit through without just wanting to leave but that is about it. It really tried very hard to be funny though and it's a somewhat okay effort.
5.5/10 -
oscaralbert16 February 2016. . . to reveal that Kiefer Sutherland miscarries his baby when he kicks down a door during ZOOLANDER No. 2? Not only does this turn of events make perfect sense, but it reveals what sort of flick ZOOLANDER No. 2 actually is: The closest thing that we will see in a movie theater to a James Bond film in 2016. ZOOLANDER No. 2 has all the hallmarks of an Agent 007 outing: from Pouty facial expressions to outlandish production design, from bombastic orchestral scoring to eye candy on-screen titles, from Cartoonish villains to buxom hot chick allies. Who knew that Penelope Cruz swam so well? How could anyone guess that Justin Bieber would outrun Dustin Hoffman's MARATHON MAN? Or that Will Ferrell's capable of combining the worst characteristics of Hannibal Lecter and Professor Moriarty? ZOOLANDER No. 2 is leading the pack as the movie featuring more cameos than any other film this year, and will be pretty hard to beat. Besides Sutherland and Bieber, Billy Zane, Sting, and a Who's Who of the Fashion World provide some of ZOOLANDER No. 2's quickest chuckles. As this Ben Stiller vehicle closes, many if not most viewers will be more pleased at the outcome than they were at Daniel Craig's average Bond.
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This is such a poor film, I honestly can't remember ever seeing such a train wreck of a movie apart from jack and jill with Adam Sandler.
Seems that dropping a few A list celebraties into a poor effort doesn't make it any better. This really is god awful. -
cammymadden3 May 2016This post won't contain much in the way of major spoilers but it may mention a few small things.
It seems that Zoolander 2 is following the film industry's recent step- by-step guide on how to make a sequel: Step 1 - Take a film that doesn't need a sequel such as Zoolander, Horrible Bosses, Ted, Hot Tub Time Machine, Grown Ups (just to name a few). Step 2 - Make a note of all the parts of the film that people laughed at. This could be anything from certain jokes or character traits. Step 3 - Come up with a moronic storyline that ultimately makes little sense and creates an unlikely problem or scenario simply to allow the sequel to exist. Step 4 - Take your jokes and stuff from step 2, copy them and then paste them into the script. Sometimes changing details, sometimes leaving them EXACTLY the same. Step 5 - Find as many willing celebrities to appear in your film either as a main character or simply as a cameo role. The more your gather, the more money your film is likely to make. Not to mention all the attention you can generate with trailers showing these people.
In case it wasn't already clear, I view Zoolander as one of the many sequels that quite simply should not exist. The big names in these films certainly don't need the money and quite frankly I could bang my head off a keyboard and come up with a more compelling storyline.
I wouldn't really recommend this film to anyone although it does have a couple of funny moments but I would simply say watch these bits on YouTube or something similar rather than wasting an hour and 45 minutes of your life watching this film. I'd say if you are considering watching this film simply watch the first 10 minutes (that's when I realise it was doomed) to get a general taste of what is to come. -
bkrauser-81-31106417 February 2016Welp, it's official, Ben Stiller has officially turned from a talented comedic star to a conceited Hollywood celebrity who doesn't quite yet know his star just took a big, big hit. I highly doubt that amid the cast, crew and close friends a single person told Stiller this movie was going to crash and burn. If someone had told him I like to think he'd spiral into a vainglorious rant worthy of an Access Hollywood "Watch This" segment. Alas instead of that we have this very, very, very bad movie.
Zoolander 2 sees the male modelling legend Derek Zoolander (Stiller) team up once more with Hansel (Wilson) to retake the fashion world by storm after a fifteen year absence. They stumble into a plot to assassinate numerous pop stars who guard an ancient secret from an unseen sinister force. Interpol agent and former swimsuit model Valentina (Cruz) struggles to uncover who is behind these assassinations and teams up with the dense duo who still struggle to remain relevant among a new generation of models, fashion designers and forgers of popular culture. Also in the mix is Zoolander's son (Arnold) who was taken away years ago due to his complete inability to be a functional father (let alone human being).
I literally have no accurate or operative way to describe how bad this movie is. No adjectives will do, no comparisons can be made and no amount of vitriol will help tend the psychological wounds I suffered while watching this film. For the first time in my life, I am dumbfounded; stumped by a movie so bad I...I just can't even.
I lieu of a traditional review I give a solemn warning: do not watch Zoolander 2. There are plenty of worthwhile things you could be doing with your time. Within the same time frame you could write a letter to your Congressman about that pesky pothole down the street. You could spend the afternoon volunteering at a soup kitchen. Maybe you can have a dentist check out that thing you got around your incisors or you and a friend could dare each other to run across your neighbor's yard before their Caucasian Shepherd Dog catches you and makes a meal out of your thighs. All of these things would be more rewarding pursuits than sitting in a darkened room and staring at Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson mugging for the camera for 102 minutes.
That about covers it. Oh one more thing, there are approximately thirty cameos in this film, which amounts to about one every 3.5 minutes. That isn't math I did post-movie, I figured it out before the credits rolled. I suppose that's my consolation for watching this movie, I finally came to understand the joy of long division; that and the limits of Neil DeGrasse Tyson's intellect. -
Although I might get booed for saying this, I actually really enjoyed this sequel. I was glad that it didn't have a lot of toilet humor and that they managed to find ways of being stupid around it, such as the prison full of male models.
There were so many good jokes in this, admittedly with more focus on the social media and pop culture world of today than the modeling industry (that isn't to say Billy Zane wasn't enjoyed). I love how celebrities from Susan Boyle to Katy Perry got to have themselves raised as above the failing and stumbling Zoolander-Hansel duo.
My only advice is to go in expecting to see something stupid, it is a sequel and it doesn't live up to the original, but if you go in expecting the original you will be disappointed. If you go in expecting it to be terrible, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it. Plus, I do the early bird for $10 less per ticket so I definitely got my money's worth. -
goolizap19 February 2016Back in 2001, when the first Zoolander came out, people wrote it off as tired and juvenile. How the tables have turned in 2016, so that same exact humor is exactly what we don't get enough of. It's not Hangover cool, or 21 Jump Street silly. An acquired taste, sure, but in a way it's a little more brilliant than those other comedies. It's completely stupid, but in the most well thought out way possible.
Zoolander 2 doesn't skip a beat in giving us that same exact charm that made the first one so great. In certain ways it's funnier than the original. The world around Derek Zoolander has changed, but he definitely hasn't. Ben Stiller, who writes, directs, and stars in the film, gives us plenty of new lines to quote and a gang of new characters who are just as weird and off-kilter as the originals. It's absolutely ridiculous, but at the same time, it doesn't exploit every chance it gets to make an innocuous joke. If you take this film too seriously, it will go over your head.
From the opening scene, you realize you're in for the same unwieldy satire that made the first one so great. Justin Bieber--one of a few dozen cameos--takes an Instagram selfie after being shot to death.
Someone is killing pop stars, and Interpol agent, Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz), is trying to figure out why. She hires Derek Zoolander (Stiller) and his former rival-turned-friend Hansel (Owen Wilson) to help crack the case. Derek has been living as a "hermit crab" recluse since his wife died and his son was taken into protective custody. And Hansel, after suffering a career- ending facial scar, is living somewhere in the desert in an 11-person marriage.
About 45 minutes in or so, as the plot really starts to develop, the humor doesn't quite keep up, since the characters are at their best when they're just bantering back and forth. But nonetheless there are plenty of things to keep us entertained.
And then Will Ferrell, as Zoolander's arch-nemesis Mugatu, shows up in the movie, just as crazy as he was in the original. Then things turn zany and a little darker than they already are. Amidst the action-packed 2nd act, there's a great dialogue sequence between Derek and Mugatu where the villain tries to trick Derek into switching places with him in prison. Seeing the two of them on screen together is something to behold.
The plot gets a little convoluted here and there, but many things in this movie don't make sense. That's the genius of it.
Surrealistic comedy has somewhat gone by the wayside these days, but Stiller is still helping to keep it alive. He recruits another young talent in Kyle Mooney, who is trying to do the same thing. Mooney, doing a take on one of his own popular characters, plays a young model who talks in his own incomprehensible lingo and makes retro shirts from phrases that were said just 15 minutes ago. Perhaps he was chosen for this role because Stiller sees a little bit of himself in Mooney--the ability to not care if anyone else thinks he's funny, as long as he can make himself laugh. That's something to admire.
Twizard Rating: 81