Movie: Zoolander 2
My Rating: 4 stars
Now, this movie is fun. I love stupid, silly, fun movies—especially when I’ve been working a lot. And, this movie hits all those criteria. Yes, it’s dumb. But, sometimes it’s ok to give yourself permission to enjoy something frivolous. Sometimes it’s ok to eat sweet tarts and cheese popcorn for dinner. So, I was actually looking forward to this second installment of this slapstick comedy. And, once again we descend into the dark underworld of male fashion modeling. There are some sinister plans afoot. Someone has been going around the world killing pop stars. But, unfortunately all the people in the pop music and fashion modelling world are too dumb to see a pattern or put any clues together. Call in the Fashion Police!
I’m not the biggest fan of Ben Stiller. He’s ok, and I know this movie is supposed to be a Ben Stiller vehicle. But, I like these movies more for Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell’s crazy antics. And, of course all of the celebrity cameos are hilarious. The last movie had a few, but this one is packed with them. All the big names in fashion and media are there. And, it’s pretty great to see how lousy at acting they all are. It’s almost painful to watch Tommy Hilfiger deliver his handful of lines. But, that really only makes this movie better.
In this movie Hansel and Zoolander are old, washed-up, has-beens. They’re out of the modeling biz, and they’re certain they’ll never do it again. But, when one last modeling gig calls them to Rome, neither one can resist. And, the fashion world has changed a lot in the interim. After the boys left, the fashion world was taken over by ironic hipsters. Everything is now dubstep, skateboards, and bad tattoos. It’s all very confusing for Zoolander and Hansel. But of course, everyone except for the models knows that this invitation can only be a trap. Someone’s up to no good, and they’re going to use the models as pawns in their scheme.
This is a stupid, funny movie. I liked it. And, if you like silly fluff, then you probably will too. A lot of the jokes are continuations or callbacks to ones in the first movie, so you’ll probably need to see that one first. But, there are plenty of jokes to be made about idiot models and self-important fashionistas. It’s definitely worth renting for a casual evening at home.