Direction:
Ben Stiller; Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen
Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penelope Cruz; Story:
Based on characters by Drake
Sather and Ben Stiller; Screenplay: Ben
Stiller, John Hamburg, Nicholas Stoller, Justin Theroux; Cinematography: Dan Mindel; Editing:
Greg Hayden; Music: Theodore Shapiro;
Producers: Stuart Cornfeld, Ben
Stiller, et al; Genre: Comedy; Location: Europe; Distributor: Paramount Pictures Running Time: 102 minutes;
Technical
assessment: 2
Moral
assessment: 2.5
CINEMA
rating: V14
Derek (Stiller) and
Hansel (Wilson) have been recruited back into the world of high fashion after a
decade of reclusion. This time, Valentina Valencia (Cruz), an Interpool Agent
for the Global Fashion Division persuades the two to help her uncover the
mysterious deaths of celebrities all of whom end up with Zoolander’s signature
“blue steel” pose. As they dredge the high fashion world in this decade, the
two ex-supermodels run into old nemesis led by Mugatu (Ferrell) with his usual
convoluted sinister plots.
Why Ben Stiller
pursued to produce, write, direct, star and lose money and dignity in this
unnecessary sequel is incomprehensible. It took him more than a decade to come
up with a sequel and honestly, the original Zoolander brand would have been
better remembered without this ridiculous follow up. The story is paper thin and
relies solely on cameo appearances of celebrities and recycled gags. It is
lazily written and appears to be a vanity project banking on the prequel’s
reputation alone. Zoolander and Stiller look pathetic and weary as they try
very hard to sustain that snooty image of a high profile supermodel. While
Stiller still retains the perfect timing to deliver his idiocies which are
actually funny, his writing and directing skills are inadequate. Zoolander 2 feels like a toothless
tiger trying hard to throw a satirical bite at the artificiality of high
fashion… but it for non-Justin fans, the opening scene makes it worthwhile.
Zoolander
2 does not pretend to deliver any message,
neither should we pretend to find one. The gags are crass, tasteless and
sacrilegious. There are too many worn-out sex jokes that
are not even funny. And its reference to religious traditions and teachings
border on offensive. On the other hand, the film struggles to make two points:
recapturing one’s glory and fatherhood. While the former is presented as vanity
and senselessness, the latter equally fails to make any connection. Its supposed
father-looking-for-his-son plot barely redeems itself because Zoolander did not
exhibit any real affection for his son when the latter failed to meet his
standards of beauty. But the biggest disappointment of Zoolander 2 is its failure to make any significant insight in
contemporary issues like social media, technology, modern relationships, and
the like.
