Film Review: Zoolander 2

It turns out there really wasn’t more to life than being ridiculously good-looking.
Released just weeks after 9/11, Ben Stiller’s original satire about a dumb-witted model navigating both the vainglorious fashion world as well as a madcap assassination plot was at odds with the national mood. Zoolander’s mix of sly cameos, uproarious malapropisms and the endearing absurdity of its two lead characters (played by Stiller and Owen Wilson) weren’t immediately appreciated – but over the years, the fresh, self-reflexive and alternately wacky and biting humour garnered it an obsessive following, and endless quoting.
In fairness, it must have been hard for Stiller to resist cashing in on its popularity for this long – if only his resolve had held. With the actor having filled the past decade with crappy cameos and braindead bromances, the original zany appeal of Zoolander has been infinitely diluted. And in this manically plotted, dizzyingly twisty sequel, Stiller’s focus is not on letting his comedic creations speak for themselves.Instead, he concentrates on the most lacklustre and forgettable part of Zoolander – the plot – jacking it up to Warp Factor Confusing and losing both its sweetness and shade in the process.
Dead Justin Bieber; models’ identity crises; Penelope Cruz in a catsuit; a prophecy; our good friend Billy Zane; reuniting enemies; Susan Sarandon quoting Rocky Horror during an orgy – all this and more make for a glitter-bombed wreck of recycled gags, erratic editing and scattershot punchlines that are too in awe of celebrity to hit hard.
A thorough disappointment.

102 mins
In cinemas now