Zoolander 2 (2016) User Reviews

One reason for the low ratings here

[Furrystoat · 6/10 · 13 July 2016]

While 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.

It had cinematography

[spaceyemperres · 5/10 · 16 March 2023]

The 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.

Funny but not focused

[michaeltong-29180 · 6/10 · 4 May 2016]

If 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.

Horrendously unfunny

[themadmovieman · 4/10 · 9 February 2016]

I 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.

Almost Unwatchable

[schroeder-gustavo · 2/10 · 12 March 2016]

Zoolander 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

Unfunny face

[Prismark10 · 2/10 · 9 May 2016]

Fifteen 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.

I don't care what the ratings are, I had good laughs

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 14 July 2016]

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.

They waited 15 years for this?

[eddie_baggins · 2/10 · 14 February 2016]

They 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

IMDb Ratings are broken - This is a solid comedy

[nebomilic · 7/10 · 20 June 2016]

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.

awful just awful

[katiefleming-23745 · 1/10 · 15 February 2016]

i loved Zoolander, thought it was witty and funny, but Zoolander 2 was just rubbish. its just like Owen Wilson and Ben stiller decided to top up there bank balances with this unfunny boring movie.i lost an hour and a half of my life which ill never get back,i would have rather sat in a dentist chair getting my teeth pulled out. Same old jokes nothing original it relied too much on cameo appearances.its a shame because i was looking forward to this movie for the past 15 years. its just like Wilson and stiller didn't have any chemistry together,I've seen some horrible comedies in my life and i can honestly say this was the worst I've ever seen. all i hope is they don't go and make a third one. P.S If you really want to see this movie, wait till its on DVD.don't waste your money going to the cinema, you will regret it..

Lower your expectations for maximum enjoyment

[mysticsorceror-926-719116 · 8/10 · 23 February 2016]

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.

Well, I enjoyed it

[neil-476 · 7/10 · 19 February 2016]

Someone 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.

Embarrassment for the filming industry and the actors that took part.

[dmon_hunter · 1/10 · 9 May 2016]

I made a registration here at IMDb just to say this. There is not a low enough mark for this pathetic excuse for a movie(-99/10). Garbage like this should be burned and forgotten or not even created in the first place. Not worth the watch. Not worth the money invested in it. I think who ever financed this would have done better by gambling it away than paying for this movie. Shallow and simplistic with cliché humor. I honestly think a brain damaged chimp could do better than this for a script. Also ... clearly there is some sort of censure script here that won't allow me to post even more nicer things. :) Do not watch this. WASTE OF TIME.

The worst I have ever seen

[alnlei · 1/10 · 13 May 2016]

Zoolander 2 was just nonsense. I went to see this film last night with a couple of friends. After seeing the first movie i really enjoyed and and was excited to see what the new one would entail. after sitting down through about 25 Min's of the movie about 4 people walked out and didn't return. yet again about 20 Min's later another 8 people walked out. this came as quite a shock to me as i know the movie was bad but is it that bad that you would walk out?. I mean all the jokes were rebooted from the last movie which was OK but still just felt like they were too lazy to add any new ones. If you want to see this movie then go ahead but just be warned that you may most be disappointed.

Sequels These Days...

[cammymadden · 4/10 · 3 May 2016]

This 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.

I'm Sure Ben Stiller Meant Well but Zoolander 2 is Not Very Funny and Was Made Years Too Late

[CANpatbuck3664 · 4/10 · 11 October 2016]

Its 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.

Treads a fine line between funny and stupid

[grantss · 6/10 · 17 December 2016]

It 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.

You might have more fun spending time in a zoo instead of with Zoolander

[mlaimlai2 · 5/10 · 14 February 2016]

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

Fun but not overwhelmingly so

[supatube · 6/10 · 10 February 2016]

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.

What a shame.

[Troy_Campbell · 3/10 · 12 February 2016]

Die-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.

Great Sequel, Behind the Times

[BlueFire1020 · 9/10 · 3 March 2016]

I just want to start out by saying that I really enjoyed the movie. That's not to say that it didn't have it's problems, but it excelled in what mattered most: It was an excellent representation of what made the original so great. I think if this movie had come out 10-15 years ago, after the first movie, it would be receiving a slew of positive reviews. The humor is the same, the acting is the same, and the writing is the same. By that I mean the whole movie's pretty corny, with dumb one liners and intentionally bad acting, but when you get right down to it the original was too. What's currently popular changes extremely quickly, especially in the comedy world. With that in mind, the style of the movie feels dated. But anyone complaining about how it doesn't stand up to the original or that it's a bust is viewing the first Zoolander through heavy nostalgia glasses. Zoolander was always corny, the acting was always dumb, the writing corny, that's what made it great.

The negative reviews ignore what made Zoolander great in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I love the new style of comedies; those mixed with action like Kingsman, those more mainstream like 21 Jump Street, and the dry existential comedies like Grand Budapest Hotel, but if you can allow yourself to forgive a bit of corniness and just watch this movie with the same sensibilities you viewed the original, you'll be in for a lot of laughs. Like Derek and Hansel the style's a bit washed up, but at it's core the movie is still the best of it's kind. If you can leave behind your cynicism and doubt for a few hours, you'll find yourself laughing throughout the whole movie (with some parts hitting or missing a little more than others).

The bottom line is that if you still like the original for its humor rather than for nostalgic reasons, you'll like this movie too.

More of the same from the original film - not a bad thing!

[Jonmurgie · 6/10 · 9 February 2016]

Some 15 years since the original, and fabulous, Zoolander I've been looking forward to this sequel for some time. Though not officially released until the 12th Feb it was being shown this weekend so I took a chance to get in early and see if it lived up to my expectations… Well I think it did, it's great to see Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) back on screen and they hardly look a day older than 15 years ago. Just as crazy, stupid and insane as the original film it's hard to pick many holes in the action or storyline, other than overplaying the "models are stupid" card (which, nevertheless, is still funny) and the crazy number of cameos in the film (lost count, and didn't actually recognise them all) with the best cameo being Benedict Cumberbatch, brilliant.

There were plenty of proper laugh out loud moments, with possibly my favourite scene being the first one with Mugatu (Will Ferrell) so keep an eye out for that one. One of the scenes has been used in the trailer (which I've seen several times) and I still laughed again, it's that funny.

With that said, on the whole the film isn't up there with the best. It's a superb sequel to what has become a bit of a cult film and maybe with time this will get there too. If you loved the first, you'll love this but if you've not seen the first then I'd suggest you check it out before spending your money cause it may not be your bag.

Re-hash the cards

[Cem_Topuz · 1/10 · 6 May 2016]

First of all, as a spoiler alert, first ZOOLANDER is totally the best spoiler for this film.

Same basic strictly commercial moves from guys who needs more, i don't know what, cause it's clear that those guys had everything, quite obviously.

As a late thirty guy, an admirer of ZOOLANDER, this feature leaves me frustrated.

Everything in this movie is completely same with the first movie. Even the humour. This is quite incredible, but jokes are exactly same(who am i?/ingabogovinanana -na -na -na -na/are you serious? am i the only one here? / i invented the blablabla / relax /and goes on like an avalanche of bad, cloned jokes.) just insert different celebrity cameos.

Even the position of cameos are quite the same.

Same name jokes, same behavioral jokes, same ending, same ridiculously same shi*t.

I can't really understand what are the makers of this movie thinks. They don't have any obligation to carry (or create a franchise) obviously they have enough money. So just think harder and take your time to make something original.

This is just torture to watch.

I thought TROPIC THUNDER might be a good sequel to ZOOLANDER. with some minor changes, it could have been worked.

By the way speaking of Tropic Thunder. That's a good example of entertaining and funny movie, i hope they'll never try to make a sequel.

Zoolander is finished, I'm going to THE CENTER FOR MEN WHO DOESN'T LIKE ANYTHING MADE BY SENSELESS URGE TO HAVE MORE AND WANTS SOME REAL FUN.

"It's like...being retro slash joking about being retro...slash... literally"

[kconerly · 4/10 · 28 May 2016]

I'm generally a fan of Ben Stiller, and his works. However, as much as I wanted to like this movie, I couldn't. This contains some light spoilers, but I'll try not to ruin the entire thing... it kind of does that on its own anyway.

Summary: The basic premise of the movie is that in 2001, Derrick's "Center for kids...blah blah blah..." fell apart and crushed his wife Matilda and "disfigured" Hansel. Then years later, Derrick loses Derrick Jr to Child Services because he can't "make spaghetti soft," and is a bad parent for DJ. Then Derrick and Hansel are called out of their prospective exiles, the former from being alone and the later for being disfigured, to return to some sort of fashion event that doesn't really seem to mean a damn thing to the plot at all. Of course, as the trailer gave away and you probably guessed, Mugatu is behind it all and Derrick and Hansel must figure out "who am I," just like in the first one, as well as save DJ and prevent Mugatu from killing some people. Which is done, in much the same manner as the first.

Review: What I find interesting about the movie is that it had the potential to be a sort of big satire- albeit over-the-top satire- like the first one, about the fashion industry and how society has a twisted view of self-image, self-confidence, and all things related to vanity. Instead, the second seemed like it wanted to tackle some pretty relevant issues like "new" sexual identities and sexual exploitation in the media and fashion industry. It was poorly executed.

For example, All- a character in the trailer yet only seen for about two minutes- is a bit of a caricature. In the media today, you can see men with beards dressed as women and being relevant, being "in," being role models and even fashionable because of the courage it takes to be so sexually self-aware and confident. And personally, I think that makes a lot of sense to poke fun of this in the fashion industry and the media, because of the courage it takes for the LGBT community to fight for acceptance. It is a noble thing to recognize the LGBT community's struggle. Yet, the fashion industry and the media seem to have exploited it the same way youth- particularly young women- have been exploited for ages, and they should be made fun of for it.

But Zoolander 2 doesn't really tackle that- the exploitation of the young and the bold. It makes some attempts at jokes, but nothing specific or distinguishable. Derrick makes some comments about working at a bathhouse when he was younger that gave out hand jobs. Some evil lady with too much Botox that turns out to be Mila Jovovich in a mask and wig makes a funny comment about wanting to rip the skin off of a teenage girl. It seems like Stiller and Theroux had some sort of social commentary in mind, but were too lazy or too afraid to really explore that in satire form well executed in the original.

I mean, the fact that "Don Atari" can be so funny- SNL Cast Member Kyle Mooney- as he represents the millennial's generation beyond the coming of age moment struggle to find a sense of identity and just latching on to 90's stuff as being "retro," and all things ugly and terrible being deemed cool... like an uber-hipster, but worse... The fact that the script can nail that character right makes me feel like it must have been fear to really adequately tackle a mature subject and make a funny comment about it.

Another example seemed to be the idea that God created "Adam and Eve... and Steve." Another reference to homosexuality and sexuality in general being more than just a man and a woman reproducing? Steve is the original male model and can... I don't know what the hell the movie said Steve could do, it was just all magical and stuff, like, the reason Derrick could stop a Chinese throwing star or whatever. It didn't really translate well.

The fact that the movie had Hansel's orgy representing sexual promiscuity down to the craziest of taboos represented, All representing sexuality going to beyond the-love-of-all-people to the extreme of loving (and marrying) of one's self, and then the addition of Adam and Eve and Steve being the original beings... There's even a young teenager getting a ball gag stuffed in his mouth to keep him quiet. There's jokes about a teenager boy being fat and therefore unfit to be a son to a better- more beautiful- being. Surely there must have been a hope to poke fun? At sexual identity, at sexual confusion, at sexual exploitation, at the fashion industry "Killing itself," as Mugatu said... And I like that... it just wasn't funny. It was not executed into a funny, enjoyable movie.

You know what it was? It was like a lot of the movie was just a teenage boy in the midst of puberty still finding it funny to wipes boogers on girls even as they dream of groping them under the stadium bleachers. It's just... awkward. Like Dumb and Dumber Too, it was a 90's-era comedy that should have been left alone because no one was ready (or everyone was too old) to get it right a second time. It made me glad to have waited so long to see it from a RedBox rather than in the theater.

I was embarrassed for the cast

[shereelemon-4675 · 1/10 · 12 February 2016]

I loved Zoolander so my hopes were high coming into Zoolander 2. Boy was I disappointed. Stiller and Wilson are way too old to be playing these nonsensical characters. The plot, if you can call it that was non existent. It played like predictable, boring cameo catwalk. I felt Stiller was simply boosting how he could get all these people to do a cameo. I have to applaud him on that point because you'd have to be a really, really good friend to subject yourself to this mess. Did these people read the script before agreeing?

Watching this fiasco I thought of entertainers like Stiller, Wilson and Madonna to name a few have not figured out how to move forward in an appropriate way. They seem to be stuck "back in high school". I really felt sorry for them. For one, making such an awful movie and two, because they are apparently so delusional, they don't realize they did.