Zoolander is a cult hit and has many fans despite it’s somewhat offbeat humour. Personally, I never really cared for it and I care for Zoolander 2 even less. Both Derek (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) have been out in the wilderness for years (both literally and figuratively) as a result of the collapse of the Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can’t Read Good but are brought out of retirement by Interpol agent Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz) when numerous celebs are murdered.
Personally, I feel that having loads of celebrity cameos is a cheap tactic to cover up for a lack of imagination. The first cameo is by Justin Bieber who gets shot multiple times in a fashion similar to the TV show CSI (Where he was also shot). Jokes about wanting to kill Justin Bieber are old as the hills and have probably already run their course, correct me if I’m wrong here but for me Bieber is well past the annoying stage. There are other cameos, such as the guy who talks about space and stuff, a former X-Factor contestant and a woman who wants to be dirty by being chilled, thrilled and fulfilled.
Ben Stiller, who is normally a competent director, drops the ball here as he fails to deliver any laughs in his performance as the dim-witted Derek Zoolander and in his laugh free script (which he co-wrote with four other writers). Lacking in imagination, full of boring celeb cameos (though no different to the first film to be fair) and completely laugh free, Zoolander 2 is not a biting satire on the fashion industry.
1/5