By the time Zoolander 2 was released it was a massive fifteen years since Derek Zoolander last hit the big screen catwalk, so the question was whether or not he’s still really, really ridiculously good looking enough to make a comeback in the long awaited sequel. Mojo is everything in the fashion world and either you’ve got it or you don’t, and while we’d hoped that Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson would be rappelling down the slopes of Mount Vesuvius ahead of a mammoth inferno of their own superheated, molten lava, sadly they ended up fooling themselves in a fug of peyote inspired, overblown make believe. Check out the trailer below to to see a snippet of what to expect and you can read our Zoolander 2 review to find out more.
Release date
Zoolander 2 had its UK release date on the 12th February 2016, bucking the trend a little by having the same date confirmed for the U.S. and Canada. It’s a surprising release date if we’re honest, as it could have easily been saved for the bigger box office potential of the summer months, so maybe the assumption that Paramount Pictured was less than convinced with the film hit the nail on the head.
Story
Little was initially known about the plot, except the fact that Derek Zoolander and his close friend and former nemesis Hansel McDonald would be back for more brainless fashionista action. However, it turns out that the two models fell out of favour with the public not long after the events of the first film. Due to a building oversight in the construction of The Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too it collapsed and killed teachers, children and Matilda not long after it opened. The male models had gone their separate ways during the intervening time, but they get forced back into the fashion world thanks to an international plot to destroy beautiful people everywhere.
Somehow the sinister fashion mogul, Jacobim Mugatu, is back in action too, following a stint in Le Look Up, so that covers off the antagonist side of the equation with the addition new fashion nasty, Alexanya Atoz. Derek has also got some big life decisions ahead of him with his estranged son, Derek Jr., holed up in an orphanage, and a new love interest to mess with his conflicted, pea-sized mind, Interpol agent, Valentina Valencia.
Cast
In addition to Ben Stiller (Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb) back as Derek Zoolander and Owen Wilson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Hansel, Zoolander 2 also sees the return of Will Ferrell (Get Hard) to the role of Mugatu. Christine Taylor (Tropic Thunder) is back as the ghost of Matilda, and Billy Zane (Zoolander) will be a crazed version of himself once again.
New additions to the cast include Penélope Cruz (To Rome With Love), Kristen Wiig (The Martian), Fred Armisen, Kyle Mooney and a cameo from Justin Bieber. Cyrus Arnold will play Derek’s son, but sadly, Ben’s dad Jerry Stiller has only the smallest of appearances as Derek’s one-time model agent Maury Ballstein. There’s also a very weird looking Benedict Cumberbatch (Black Mass) in cameo as the gender neutral model, All.
Production
The film has been directed by Ben Still, who also co-wrote the film with Justin Theroux (Your Highness), having worked together previously on Tropic Thunder. It’s been produced by Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld and Scott Rudin, with Paramount Pictures in charge of the distribution side of the fashionista responsibility co-efficient.
Review
The trailer below gave us a lot to get excited about for the release of Zoolander 2, but unfortunately it doesn’t live up to expectations. With the comedy might and sheer good looking talent of the first movie, anticipations were running high with many of us practicing our Blue Steel all the way up to the big screen release in February 2016, but the jokes just aren’t even close to the comedy genius of the original. While our full review doesn’t include a eugoogely of the late, great Derek Zoolander, it does give you a lot more detail about why the film doesn’t work as well as it could.
