In the decade of the 2010s, the film release schedules could almost be mistaken for a zombie apocalypse.
Film producers once felt the best way to create a profit was to constantly churn out cheaply-made action films. Now they’ve realised there is more money to be made from franchises; relying on the goodwill of older films which have since developed a larger and more devoted audience. Sometimes these ‘reboots’ can work amazingly well, such as the recent entries in the ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Mad Max’ franchises. However, more often than not, new installments focus on rehashing the same jokes over developing the arc of the character. Furthering this tradition is the disappointing ‘Zoolander 2’.
In the last film, Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) had conquered the world of fashion with his famous ‘Blue Steel’ look, saved the life of the Malaysian Prime Minister from fashion designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell), started a family with Matilda (Christine Taylor), and built (takes deep breath) ‘The Derek Zoolander Centre For Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Who Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too’.
Fast forward some months later, and tragedy has struck: the centre has collapsed, ‘disfiguring’ Hansel (Owen Wilson) and killing Matilda; Derek Jr (Cyrus Arnold) has been taken from Derek due to his unfit parenting; and Derek has retreated from the world in disgrace. Now, pop stars are being assassinated; their last acts being recreations of Zoolander’s signature look. Derek and Hansel are pulled back into the world by Interpol agent Valentina (Penelope Cruz) in order to solve the mysteries of the killings, stop Mugatu, reunite with Derek’s son, and reclaim their relevance in the world of fashion.There are a lot of opportunities to show the development of Derek since the last film: he’s now a father, and has suffered a lot of tragedy. Unfortunately, the already dim character seems incapable of change or growth. There was potential for this film to cover great themes; an old icon re-entering an industry they once dominated in could have led to jokes about how the already weird world of fashion has changed, thanks to social media.
Unfortunately, many of the original jokes in the film are aimed at surface-level appearances: fat jokes, transphobia, and hipster-minstrel in the way of the ironically-trendy designer Don Atari (Kyle Mooney). The rest of the material in the film is made up of references to jokes in the previous film – not reusing the jokes, but unsubtle references to jokes in order to distract audiences and remind them they came to see this film because the first one had ‘this’ funny bit. A decent story could have saved the film somewhat, but it is buried underneath the rubble of hacky jokes. Where once it was fun to see someone so high up in the fashion world with very little intelligence, now it feels like an elderly person telling today’s young people they are dumb, and things were better back in their day.While much of the film doesn’t compare to the original, there are still some redeeming features. A strong opening sequence involving Justin Bieber (another person trying to reclaim goodwill) evading capture is hilarious, and weirdly makes Bieber more likable than Ben Stiller. The other stand-outs are Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell as Atoz and Mugatu, respectively. Ferrell’s Mugatu has the strongest lines in the film, with a sequence of him verbally roasting other designers being the most amusing scenes in the film. Wiig displays her physical comedy prowess as Atoz, a fashion designer with an indeterminate accent whose facial gestures and tics seem to be an effort to fight against the plastic surgery holding it together. The short amount of time Wiig and Ferrell share on screen is wonderful to watch, as they always share a great spark in other projects. It is only matched in hilarity by a cameo by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Viewing the credits of the film, the film lists four different people as writers: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux (writer of ‘Tropic Thunder’), John Hamburg (‘Meet The Parents’, ‘Along Came Polly’), and Nicholas Stoller (‘Get Him To The Greek’, ‘The Muppets’). These are four people who have crafted some wonderfully funny films, and have helped shape the modern comedy. Perhaps the four are getting rusty, or ‘Zoolander 2’ is a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.
Two out of five ridiculously good looking stars.
'Zoolander 2' is in cinemas now.
