Zoolander was the silly character comedy that found immortality. The idiotic film that was actually quite smart. The semi-improvised that poked fun at the industry it embraced.
The sequel is the opposite; silly but instantly forgettable. Idiotic but not nearly clever. Carefully calculated but merely indulgent.
It is a decade since the events of the first film. Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) have lived very separate lives. Zoolander the life of a hermit crab, Hansel seeking to avoid the unwanted attention of the collective orgy that he somehow impregnated. An orgy that includes Kiefer Sutherland…
Again the pair are united by Billy Zane to assist beautiful but too buxom Valentina (Penelope Cruz) to discover just who is killing the world’s most flawless celebrities. They return to a world of fashion that is new and disconcerting, and wonder if their past lives are too far gone.
Twolander is not nearly as unfunny as Anchorman 2 but it is similarly unnecessary. The celebrity sightings here are plentiful but forced. The new characters are indeed kooky but not memorable. The stupidity will again raise a titter but rarely a genuine laugh. The insinuation that Zoolander’s son has grown up to be a *gasp* fat dork is awkward to say the least.
Zoolander and Hansel share some amusing exchanges but it’s more skit-level stuff than a genre defining feature film.
Fashion is ever changing, often confusing and fickle. On the evidence here Zoolander was a fad, something once genuinely cool but not to be repeated.
Final Rating – 5.5 / 10. So Not Hot Right Now…
