Zoolander 2

As a big fan of the original with respect for many of these filmmakers, Zoolander 2 was one of the worst sequels I've ever seen. I think with the sudden trend of sequels to classic comedies like Joe Dirt and Anchorman, as well as Ben Stiller's desire to be relevant again, he decided to make something guaranteed to make some money in the box office. But it is clear that they approached the project with no artistic integrity. It was well into the second act that I realized I had not laughed at a single joke. Clearly there is a format for the Zoolander comedy type in which silly phrases are repeated, people misunderstand one another, and characters make connections through absurd or ironic interactions. And there were a few times where the dialogue was witty, but almost every gag was a direct reference to the first film or a pop-culture reference. The pop culture references fell flat on every attempt, and direct allusions to the original are in my opinion a cop out in order to avoid writing an actually funny film. I must admit the last 40 minutes or so upped the ante a bit, but I still couldn't see any reason to make this film. Subplots about both models becoming fathers, the side characters in the fashion world, and the overly dramatic production/soundtrack, all fell flat as well. I was really hoping that this film would have something to it, but sadly it was just another pointless homage to a classic film which the world could have done without. A silly sequel a few years after is kind of worthy of forgiveness, but 15 years later is embarrassing. These filmmakers are capable of much, much more.

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.

Zoolander (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.

The original "Zoolander" accumulated a moderate US box office gross of $45,172,250. It developed a life of its own on video and DVD, becoming a cult hit. The sequel has finally arrived 15 years later. Was it worth the wait? Did it have to be made? The answer to both questions is a resounding 'no'. There's just not enough story material to stretch the length to over 100 minutes. It's a flimsy story with many unfunny scenes but there's still enough amusing moments to justify your time and money.

Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) has gone into seclusion after the death of his wife (Christine Taylor) from a building that he constructed for children with poor reading skills. His son, Derek Jr (Cyrus Arnold) has been sent to an orphanage in Rome because Derek has been deemed as an unfit father. Meanwhile, Derek's main rival in the modeling world, Hansel (Owen Wilson), has also retired due to a facial injury suffered during the same building collapse that killed Derek's wife. He has been living in a hippie commune which also includes Kiefer Sutherland playing himself. They are brought together when famous celebrities like Justin Bieber have been killed, but before taking their last breath, they post a Derek Zoolander 'Blue Steel' look on social media. Interpol agent Valentina (Penélope Cruz) recognizes that look and calls upon Derek and Hansel to investigate just who is killing all those celebrities. At the same time, Derek tries to reconnect with his son when his investigations take him to the same city where is now residing.

If you haven't seen the original "Zoolander", you could still see the sequel as the opening scenes are a news montage of what has happened to Derek since being the king of the modeling world. You get a fair idea of who Derek Zoolander is and what his accomplishments were from this montage. If you are familiar with the personality of Derek then you'll know that he is a child trapped in a man's body. And that's still the case 15 years later. He mangles the English language and finds himself in situations that test his limited intelligence. Stiller plays him to perfection and he maintains an excellent rapport with Wilson who delights in his role as Stiller's rival. Other cast members don't fare as well. Ferrell reprises his role as Mugatu from the first film and he is in overacting mode along with Wiig who is Mugatu's co- conspirator. Cruz adds sex appeal and sauciness in her sidekick role to Derek.

If you like to play the game of spot the celebrities, you will be in for a fun time. Just about every major fashion designer has a cameo along with celebrity appearances from the movie and music world including Benedict Cumberbatch (as an androgynous supermodel!), Susan Sarandon, Milla Jovovich, Macauley Culkin, Billy Zane, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Sting, Kate Moss...the list goes on! It probably has the most cameos ever in a movie.

The main problem with this film lies in the story. There's not much to work with and it doesn't help when a lot of the scenes linger to try to eke out any laughs from the jokes. When the actors are trying this hard to make viewers laugh without succeeding then you know that the original cult status should have remained untouched as the sequel might damage its credibility. What saves this film is the likability factor of both Derek and Hansel, plus the way they react together.

Many scenes of Rome were shot in an Italian studio and it's remarkable how real Rome looks. Some of the action stunts also add to the visual appeal of the movie.

I wasn't a huge fan of the original "Zoolander" but it was still better than this offering. Sometimes it's best to retire much-loved movie characters to preserve their 'dignity' and in this sequel, we have been provided with a classic example of this theory. http://mlaimlai2.wix.com/magical-movie-review

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.