Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are back on the runway as male models Derek Zoolander and Hansel, perhaps sporting a few extra wrinkles around the eyes. The original Zoolander was a sleeper hit, pulling a shocking number of laughs from what seemed like a very thin concept, and its delayed sequel, unfortunately, pales in comparison.
Like many folllow-up efforts from the same genre (Austin Powers and The Hangover, I'm looking at you here) Zoolander 2 falls into the trap of constantly re-hashing the gags that worked the first time. Why innovate when the well's right there waiting for your return, after all? What new material it does bring to the screen is often good for a chuckle, but not deep enough to mine for richer material. Benedict Cumberbatch's gender-bending role as a competing supermodel is a great example. We get about three minutes of big laughs from the character, but then he's spent and is cast aside. Even the returning faces seem lighter and less interesting, particularly Will Ferrell's big-haired fashion mogul, Mugatu. They're propped up with sight gags and cheap one-liners, but there's no masking the lack of inspiration in their writing and performance.
Humor arrives in sprinkles throughout this film, like a series of not-quite-ready pitches for an upcoming episode of SNL, but that's not good enough to make up for a bland, obvious storyline and an aimless, meandering pair of central character arcs. Pointless and under-cooked, or maybe over-cooked, considering how long it was left to incubate. Whatever the cause, it's a swing and a miss.
Review by drqshadowBlockedParent2020-01-30T16:21:37Z
Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are back on the runway as male models Derek Zoolander and Hansel, perhaps sporting a few extra wrinkles around the eyes. The original Zoolander was a sleeper hit, pulling a shocking number of laughs from what seemed like a very thin concept, and its delayed sequel, unfortunately, pales in comparison.
Like many folllow-up efforts from the same genre (Austin Powers and The Hangover, I'm looking at you here) Zoolander 2 falls into the trap of constantly re-hashing the gags that worked the first time. Why innovate when the well's right there waiting for your return, after all? What new material it does bring to the screen is often good for a chuckle, but not deep enough to mine for richer material. Benedict Cumberbatch's gender-bending role as a competing supermodel is a great example. We get about three minutes of big laughs from the character, but then he's spent and is cast aside. Even the returning faces seem lighter and less interesting, particularly Will Ferrell's big-haired fashion mogul, Mugatu. They're propped up with sight gags and cheap one-liners, but there's no masking the lack of inspiration in their writing and performance.
Humor arrives in sprinkles throughout this film, like a series of not-quite-ready pitches for an upcoming episode of SNL, but that's not good enough to make up for a bland, obvious storyline and an aimless, meandering pair of central character arcs. Pointless and under-cooked, or maybe over-cooked, considering how long it was left to incubate. Whatever the cause, it's a swing and a miss.