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Does America really NEED a sequel to the 2001 Ben-Stiller-starring-and-directed send-up of the fashion and supermodeling worlds, and the apparently ceaseless vacuity thereof and therein? For the first 20 minutes or so of “Zoolander 2,” the answer is a pretty flat “no.” The sequel, again directed by and starring Stiller (in the title role of Derek Zoolander, whose skull is so thoroughly empty that to call him an “airhead” would be an insult to air), along with Owen Wilson as counterpart dimbulb male model Hansel, and many others from the original cast, begins with a gag that’s already been overplayed in the trailers. That is, the “assassination” of pop star Justin Bieber , who, before he saunters off this mortal coil, takes a selfie while making a signature Derek Zoolander “look.” What follows is a multi-media-personality “whatever happened to?” sequence. Every TV news personality of note save for maybe Brian Williams adds a sound bite to the story, which features an arguably tasteless fictional disaster befalling a construction in downtown Manhattan close to the Hudson River. Soon, the audience sees a mountain lair in a snowy, windy surrounding, and the title in the lower right hand corner of the screen reads “Extreme Northern New Jersey.” I’m a sucker for a good Jersey joke but I still wasn’t hooked.

Eventually I was, though. “Zoolander 2” is not just relentless in its joking, it becomes relentlessly clever in debunking itself as it goes along. “This is barely a movie,” I thought, as it hopped from one inane plot device to ‘80s music cue to ‘80s music video pastiche to inane plot point. But the observations about the fashion world got, if not sharper (I don’t know enough about the contemporary fashion world to vouch for accuracy), then definitely more pointed, beginning with Kyle Mooney’s portrayal of a hot new designer named Don Atari whose aesthetic pinions on how much everything “sucks” and is “stupid.” Derek and Hansel have been persuaded via old friend Billy Zane to participate in Atari’s fashion show in Rome, lorded over by a spectacularly pompous couture doyen named Alexanya Atoz, played by a nearly unrecognizable Kristen Wiig. Atoz’s schtick is elaborately mispronouncing English words, and this is hammered almost as insistently as is Derek’s idiocy. The biggest comic risk the movie ends up taking, as it happens, is in scenes in which Derek doesn’t “get” something. And this is entirely the case lot once Penelope Cruz , playing a member of Interpol, Fashion Crime Division, invests him and Hansel in a world-saving (or something) mission. The character is literally so dumb that it’s not funny, except it becomes funny by dint of the way it’s not funny, and so on.

And honestly, it then becomes very funny, funny enough that my wife observed that she thought I was going to have a stroke, as I was laughing so much. I was also laughing hard enough that I stopped taking notes. So what more can I tell you about this movie? Well, there are enough cameos in the damn thing that you might eventually wonder why you yourself are not in it. The bit in which Benedict Cumberbatch appears as an apparently pan-gender supermodel named “All” does play fast and loose with the skirting-ideological-objectionability thing, but on the other hand, every character and personage depicted in this movie is utterly, one might even say abjectly, ridiculous, so for “All” to be depicted as not ridiculous might have constituted a progressively active judgment, but also would have been on the inconsistent side. Also, this is a movie that makes an elaborate joke about the prospect of a 13-year-old boy getting his heart carved out of his chest, and the real-life denizens of the real-life fashion world attaining eternal youth by drinking his blood. Yes, you read that correctly. This is where Will Ferrell’s fashion villain Mugatu comes in, along with more cameos, and Cyrus Arnold, a very nervy tween, in the role of Derek’s wayward, and purposefully chubby, son.

As the action gets more furious, and Owen Wilson in particular is given more and more of an opportunity to unspool his seemingly inexhaustible comic genius, it might be easy to miss the fact that “Zoolander 2” bites a certain hand with more perspicacity than that displayed in Stiller’s 2008 I-hate-Hollywood effort “ Tropic Thunder .” It takes a certain something to convince the likes of Tommy Hilfiger and Alexander Wang to show up and play themselves, and depict those selves as eager to participate in ritual murder and cannibalism. Sounds pretty heavy-handed as satire goes, but the thing is, “Zoolander 2” has indulged in so many inversions of its narrative by this time that the insult to fashionistas comes off as both entirely sincere and futilely insubstantial. But this is all better gist for some future Ivy League film studies class than this review. I laughed so much my wife thought I was going to have a stroke. There’s the blurb for you, Paramount. Thanks, Derek!

Glenn Kenny

Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Zoolander 2 (2016)

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, a scene of exaggerated violence, and brief strong language.

102 minutes

Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander

Owen Wilson as Hansel

Will Ferrell as Mugatu

Penélope Cruz as Valentina

Kristen Wiig as Alexanya Atoz

Benedict Cumberbatch as All

Christine Taylor as Matilda Jeffries

Cyrus Arnold as Derek Jr.

Justin Bieber as Himself

Beck Bennett as Geoff Mille

• Ben Stiller
• Justin Theroux
• Nicholas Stoller
• John Hamburg

Writer (character Derek Zoolander)

• Drake Sather

Cinematographer

• Daniel Mindel
• Greg Hayden
• Theodore Shapiro

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Review: In ‘Zoolander 2,’ All Is Still Vanity

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By Stephen Holden

• Feb. 11, 2016

If you took away the extravagantly gaudy trappings of the overproduced, chaotic, not very funny comic circus that is “ Zoolander 2 ,” you would still have a surefire basic concept. Derek Zoolander ( Ben Stiller ), an airhead model forever pursing his lips, striking poses and practicing his telekinetic blue-steel glare in the mirror, is a Chaplinesque Everyman in a delusional bubble. The prevalence of outrageous male vanity was the dirty little secret in the first “Zoolander” that lent the film its satirical bite. In the 15 years that have passed since then, it is anything but a secret in a world of competing buff, preening dandies.

In Derek’s imagination — and, I would like to think, in Mr. Stiller’s on a good day — he’s a devastatingly handsome specimen with his laser-blue eyes and prominent cheekbones. One reason the character registers so strongly is that Derek suggests Mr. Stiller’s personal obsession with his looks. He knows firsthand that men, deep down, are more vain than women, that in their fantasies most men see themselves as irresistible lady-killers.

Mr. Stiller is a perfect case study in male insecurity. Depending on the role, the camera angle, the costume, and the hair and makeup, Mr. Stiller, 50, swings between polarities of trollishness and desirability. In some movies, he appears dwarfish and deformed with a head that’s too big for his body and empty space-alien eyes. He is of average height but looks shorter. And when bulked up, he appears hunched and musclebound. But when he fixes those baby blues on the camera and thrusts out his jaw to accentuate his cheekbones, he can pass as handsome: just barely.

Movie Review: ‘Zoolander 2’

The times critic stephen holden reviews “zoolander 2.”.

The original “ Zoolander ,” in 2001, was a belated hit that caught on as a home-viewing phenomenon. Because it was a family movie, its savaging of the fashion industry could only go so far (not very) and had to stop well short of portraying fashionista depravity. The same is true of “Zoolander 2,” which doesn’t have a trace of erotic energy. A bunch of orgiasts appear ready for action, but they don’t do anything beyond making faces and lightly petting one another in an ambulatory group hug.

“Zoolander 2,” which is overstuffed with celebrity cameos, opens with its strongest sequence, in which Justin Bieber is machine-gunned to death and in his last moment posts an Instagram picture of himself sucking in his cheeks and puckering his lips in a blue-steel pout. He is a casualty of an international plot to rid the world of beautiful celebrities. (The scheme never gains traction.)

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‘zoolander 2’: film review.

Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell revisit their beloved characters as another diabolical plot to demolish the sacred foundations of the fashion world unfolds.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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Plus-size models are seldom flattered by squeezing into skimpy sample-size garments, and the reverse is also true in the case of  Zoolander  2 , which drowns its svelte skeleton in acres of fussy couture. Director, co-writer and star Ben Stiller resurrects his “really, really, ridiculously good-looking” male model alter ego 15 years after the irresistible first movie overcame disappointing box office results to earn cult adoration on DVD. But the imbecilic charms of a character that began as TV sketch material are too often misplaced in this wildly over-plotted, under-energized action comedy, plumped to bursting point with celebrity cameos.

The goodwill of original fans and the fun of playing spot the star (especially in a Hansel orgy) should give the Paramount release an initial boost. But it seems more likely to be a fashion-week flash than a season-long sensation.

Release date: Feb 12, 2016

The fashion industry was certainly ripe for satire when  Zoolander  came along in 2001, though opening two weeks after 9/11 was awkward timing for such a proudly frivolous voyage to the outer limits of pop-cultural vapidity.

In the past decade-and-a-half, fashion has evolved even further into the mainstream.  Project Runway  democratized the craft of the designer, just as  America’s Next Top Model  did for the career path of the professional clotheshorse. Stylists have become  demi-celebrities , and the annual Met Costume Institute Gala has ballooned into the Super Bowl of red carpets. Meanwhile, label whores both fictional (Carrie Bradshaw) and non- (Paris Hilton, the  Kardashians ) have turned conspicuous consumption into an  aspirational  career, while social media and  selfies  have spawned legions of spotlight-hungry  supermodels  — at least in their own minds.

All that should have provided delicious fodder for the screenwriting team, led by Justin  Theroux , who also reprises his role from the earlier film as an evil henchman to Will Ferrell ‘s petulant villain,  Mugatu . But paradoxically, the sequel gets far less mileage than its predecessor out of the real-world absurdities of a target industry that takes itself so very seriously. When even icy style guru Anna  Wintour  is among the insiders clamoring to make a self-parodying appearance, the subversive edge gets blunted.

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'zoolander 2' gets critically savaged.

Despite its relentless name-checking,  Zoolander  2  functions strictly within its own goofy screen-comedy universe, so its satire is toothless. The dim-witted Derek  Zoolander , his former runway rival Hansel (Owen Wilson, back in full butterscotch-stallion mode), and tantrum-throwing monster  Mugatu  are stitched into a high-concept story of celebrity serial murders, a mythical promise of eternal youth and a conspiracy to wipe out the most influential figures in fashion. By comparison, the original movie’s plot to brainwash Derek into assassinating the Malaysian prime minister seems a model of linear clarity. The bigger issue, however, is that not one of the patchy sequel’s threads really holds together, even within the elastic boundaries of farce.

'Zoolander 2' Premiere: Ben Stiller, Co-Writer Reveal How Long-Awaited Sequel Finally Came Together

The opening features one of the most amusing cameos, which is also given away in the trailer. After a high-speed chase along Rome’s cobblestone alleys, a motorcyclist  hitman  rains down bullets on Justin Bieber, who  Instagrams  a final  selfie  as he’s dying. Interpol fashion division chief Valentina Valencia ( Penelope Cruz ) identifies the  Bieb’s  cheek-sucking farewell pout as one of  Zoolander’s  classic looks, Blue Steel, linking the death to a chain of recent beautiful-people slayings.

Meanwhile, Derek and Hansel, after withdrawing from the industry following a tragic accident, have been in hiding for 10 years in hilariously far-flung locations. An invitation from fashion empress  Alexanya   Atoz  (Kristen  Wiig ) lures them to Rome, where her  protege , Don Atari (Kyle Mooney), has elevated hipster negativity into the defining style statement du jour. Needless to say, Derek and Hansel don’t get it. But the jokes about these dolts being left behind by the industry that once glorified them run out of juice fast.

Valentina draws them into her investigation (“She’s hot. I trust her,” says Hansel in a welcome bit of throwaway humor), leading Derek to his estranged son, Derek  Jr . (Cyrus Arnold), who was removed from his custody and raised in a Roman orphanage. At the same time, Hansel wrestles with his own paternity issues, seeking distraction via some epic kink.

Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson Pose as Live Mannequins in Valentino Rome Store in 'Zoolander 2' Stunt

This choppy midsection loses momentum as the writers toss gags at the screen with varying success, relying on our existing affection for the returning characters rather than providing persuasive new reasons to invest. Sure, it’s a kick to see Stiller and Wilson back in the shoes of these camera-ready cretins, but for every joke that sparks there are several that just lie there. The counterbalancing effect of the first film’s civilian love-interest and investigative accomplice, Matilda (Christine Taylor, who pops up only briefly), is missing here. Cruz looks sensational and seems game for anything, but especially once Valentina’s past as a swimsuit model is revealed, she stops being an effective foil for the clueless self-absorption of Derek and Hansel.

It’s a full hour before Ferrell arrives to goose the tempo, when  Mugatu  breaks out of fashion prison and tastes liberty by tossing a steaming latte in the face of his fawning assistant, Todd (Nathan Lee Graham). However, his ecstatic reunion with  Alexanya  promises more than it delivers.

Wiig  scores some of designer  Leesa  Evans’ most outrageous costumes, and is a riot in a bizarre caricature that stands alongside her most out-there  SNL  turns. But she’s woefully underutilized — a sketch creation poorly integrated into the story. If you’ve seen the  mock promo online , in which diction-challenged waxwork Alexanya touts her age-defying Youth Milk, you’ve seen the best of the performance. The same applies to Benedict Cumberbatch’s bit as gender-nonconforming supermodel All (the subject of a  tempest-in-a-teapot controversy  — this is harmless satire, not damaging misrepresentation). Other featured roles, like Fred Armisen’s 11-year-old social media maven (more of a CG trick than an actual character), or Mooney’s anti-fashion freak, just add to the busy fatigue of it all.

'SNL': Derek Zoolander, Hansel Visit Weekend Update

Ferrell’s singular brand of extreme comedy is broad and shameless enough to cut through all the strained plot mechanics, so the film acquires some much-needed propulsion once the shrieking Mugatu takes center-stage. (Just the way his eyes widen in tantalized outrage as he watches two women “sexy fighting” is priceless.) But from the wrangling of top-tier fashionistas to the  Star Wars -inspired revelation of Hansel’s origins, the climactic action smacks more of try-anything desperation than cleverness — though fans will be thrilled to see a late returnee from the first film.

The movie boasts lots of eye-catching locations in the Italian capital — Bieber gets mowed down by the Pantheon; Alexanya’s HQ is the Fascist architectural landmark, Palazzo della Civilta ; and her hot-ticket Incredi-Ball takes place at the Baths of Caracalla . It’s all shot with vigor and a glossy paintbox by Dan Mindel , fresh off  The Force Awakens , and it’s drenched in a thunderous score by Theodore Shapiro. But like a cute little outfit burdened with too many accessories,  Zoolander 2  is a victim of overkill.

Distributor: Paramount Production companies: Red Hour, Scott Rudin Productions Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penelope Cruz, Kristen Wiig , Fred Armisen , Kyle Mooney, Milla Jovovich , Christine Taylor, Justin Theroux , Nathan Lee Graham, Cyrus Arnold, Billy Zane, Jon Daly, Sting, Benedict Cumberbatch Director: Ben Stiller Screenwriters: Justin Theroux , Ben Stiller, Nick Stoller , John Hamburg, based on characters created by Drake Sather , Ben Stiller Producers: Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld , Scott Rudin , Clayton Townsend Executive producer: Jeff Mann Director of photography: Dan Mindel Production designer: Jeff Mann Costume designer: Leesa Evans Music: Theodore Shapiro Editor: Greg Hayden Casting: Rachel Tenner

Rated PG-13, 102 minutes

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Zoolander 2.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 10 Reviews
• Kids Say 24 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Racy sequel to cult comedy hit is a hot (but funny) mess.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Zoolander 2 -- the highly anticipated sequel to star Ben Stiller's 2001's silly but edgy modeling comedy Zoolander -- has a lot of similar content, from violence and mayhem played for laughs to jokes about orgies (and tons of cameos, natch). While there's no…

Why Age 14+?

Strong but relatively infrequent language includes "s--t," "bitch

Plenty of innuendo, and several jokes about both breast size and orgies. No grap

Many products/brands seen/mentioned: Netflix, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Uber, CNN, Valen

A gunshot draws blood and ultimately kills its victim. One character wants to bl

Social drinking by adult characters.

Any Positive Content?

While there's a lot of shallow behavior on display (as well as jokes at othe

Derek and Hansel may not be the smartest or deepest of characters, but they usua

Strong but relatively infrequent language includes "s--t," "bitch," "a--hole," and one "f--k."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Plenty of innuendo, and several jokes about both breast size and orgies. No graphic nudity/simulated sex in the orgy scenes, but the groupings include women, men, and animals; related discussion of the resulting pregnancies (a turn of events that freaks one character out). After a character flashes her cleavage, two men are visibly aroused. One scene shows character briefly touching a woman's (clothed) breast at her invitation. A man inadvertently tells a kid about a sexual encounter the man had with the kid's mother.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Many products/brands seen/mentioned: Netflix, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Uber, CNN, Valentino, Facebook, Instagram, Samsung, and more.

Violence & Scariness

A gunshot draws blood and ultimately kills its victim. One character wants to blow up a room full of famous fashion folks out of sheer spite and bitterness. A man throws a knife at another, stabbing him in the cheek; the same knife is later used to stab someone in the thigh. Though blood is shown, these scenes are intended to be funny.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

While there's a lot of shallow behavior on display (as well as jokes at others' expense, including a character who's overweight), underneath the surface is the idea that sometimes when you're down and out, there's nowhere to go but up. Also, don't be defeated by challenges; instead, regroup and come up better and wiser.

Positive Role Models

Derek and Hansel may not be the smartest or deepest of characters, but they usually mean well and are totally without guile, which is somewhat appealing. Jokes are made at an overweight character's expense.

Parents need to know that Zoolander 2 -- the highly anticipated sequel to star Ben Stiller 's 2001's silly but edgy modeling comedy Zoolander -- has a lot of similar content, from violence and mayhem played for laughs to jokes about orgies (and tons of cameos, natch). While there's no graphic nudity or actual simulated sex on display, the orgy scenes involve groups that include men, women, and animals. There's other innuendo, breast-size jokes, and sexual references as well. Characters are shot and stabbed, and other murders are planned. There's some swearing, including one "f--k," as well as social drinking and plenty of blatant product placement. Jokes are made at the expense of a kid who's overweight. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (10)
• Kids say (24)

Based on 10 parent reviews

What's the Story?

It's been years since supermodel Derek Zoolander ( Ben Stiller ) stopped a deadly weapon with his signature "look," Magnum, and built the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good, and things aren't looking so great for him. His school collapsed, killing his wife and injuring his best friend, Hansel ( Owen Wilson ), who now won't speak to Derek and has retired from modeling, spending his days with his perpetual orgy. When the tabloids photograph Derek losing his temper while attempting to make spaghetti for his son, Child Protective Services whisks the boy away, leaving Derek holed up in the wilds of northern New Jersey. Then Billy Zane (reprising his role as himself from the original) shows up with an invitation for Derek to attend a fashion show hosted by the supreme fashionista, Alexanya Atoz ( Kristen Wiig ). Reunited in Rome, Derek and Hansel find themselves roped into a murderous plot hatched by the evil Mugatu ( Will Ferrell ), who still hates Derek.

Is It Any Good?

To enjoy ZOOLANDER 2 is to ignore all the usual ways in which you measure fine filmmaking (like plot and story arc), because a) it's a hot mess, and b) it's still funny. Nostalgia fuels the comedy, from the moment we spot Derek in all his high-haired, narcissistic glory (and brief morose "hermit crab" stint) and Hansel in his loopy, laid-back ditziness. There are few better buddies to pair up in a buddy comedy than these two. (They're well-matched by Penelope Cruz as a swimsuit-model-turned-Interpol-investigator; she holds her own against the returning stars' wackiness.)

That the storyline -- something about the fountain of youth and Derek's son -- makes absolutely no sense (and is uncomfortable to boot, given that it makes fun of a young boy's weight) doesn't fully detract from the enjoyment of seeing Derek and Hansel back in action. But make no mistake, this movie is silly, crude, and even a bit outdated with all the jokes about supermodels, their (lack of) intellect, and their obsession with weight. It's also sometimes irritating in its zany mindlessness. But anything with Stiller, Wiig, Ferrell, and Wilson deserves watching ... as long as you adjust all expectations accordingly.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Zoolander 2 's messages. In theory, it's mocking the shallower aspects of fashion and celebrity culture, but it also makes jokes at the expense of an overweight character. Is that inappropriate or in keeping with the film's themes? Can media affect kids' body image?

Derek and Hansel are portrayed as airheaded supermodels: Is that a cliche? How does the movie balance its affection for the characters with its commentary on models and fashion?

Does the film work as a sequel? What are the perils of following up on a movie that's become a cult favorite?

Who's the intended audience of this movie? Why do so many people love silly comedies? Why do different types of humor appeal to different people?

Movie Details

• In theaters : February 12, 2016
• On DVD or streaming : May 24, 2016
• Cast : Ben Stiller , Owen Wilson , Penelope Cruz
• Director : Ben Stiller
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Paramount Pictures
• Genre : Comedy
• Run time : 102 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : crude and sexual content, a scene of exaggerated violence, and brief strong language
• Last updated : May 31, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Zoolander No. 2 Reviews

The audience leaves the theater thinking, "It took them 15 years to come up with this?!"

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 22, 2022

If my seven years on Twitter have taught me anything, it's that bitterness rarely brings the funny.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 3, 2022

Ben Stiller reprises his role as a former model in a throwaway but amusing sequel.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 8, 2021

The best thing about Zoolander 2 is that it is such a fashion faux pas and so desperately unfunny it's hard to imagine Stiller and Company making a third one fifteen years from now.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 3, 2021

Any hint of intelligent sarcasm or parody has vanished in favor of non sequiturs, references to the previous movie, and slapstick.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/10 | Dec 5, 2020

Filled with half-baked ideas that could use a whole lot more cooking.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4.0 | Sep 27, 2020

Whether he did it for nostalgic reasons or by outside influence, going back to this character feels like a weak attempt at capturing old glory. In other words, Ben Stiller is better than this.

Full Review | Original Score: D+ | Jul 13, 2020

Zoolander 2 is a pointless, soulless rehash that appears to go out of its way to avoid any sort of fun or intelligence.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Jul 3, 2020

Even though the film squandered its potential by setting its sights much higher than they ever really needed to be, it was great to see Derek Zoolander back on the big screen.

Full Review | Apr 3, 2020

Zoolander 2 is heavy on cameos but light on laughs.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 22, 2020

Directed by [Ben] Stiller, the work is serviceable but not outstanding, save for the film serving as a compact travelogue for Rome.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 5, 2019

Zoolander 2 exists in its own fabricated world rather than acting as a satirical spin on the more absurd elements of our own.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Jul 20, 2019

ZOOLANDER 2 is a true stinker, the kind of unfunny, nap-inducing comedy likely to be a future Razzie nominee.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | May 7, 2019

Stiller's script has some fun with the common sequel trap of repeating old plot points and jokes, but doesn't escape it entirely. It's a relief then that the jokes about the series' new target - hipsters - land as successfully as before.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 17, 2019

Zoolander 2 made me laugh, so there you go.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Apr 15, 2019

There are a couple of genuine laughs, but the film fails to provide anything new and turns into a strange spy-type race to save the day and only proves to be underwhelming and forgettable overall.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 5, 2019

The plot's as uninteresting and flat as it sounds, a trashy send-up of the international spy thriller that chose to spoof that genre seemingly arbitrarily. But all that could be quickly forgiven with some good, solid comedy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/10 | Feb 22, 2019

Derek Zoolander and company have definitely fallen out of fashion.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 20, 2019

I probably laughed, or at least was amused, at about three out of every 10 jokes in "Zoolander 2." That's a good percentage if you are a baseball player at the plate, but not good for a comedy.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jan 15, 2019

[Stiller and Wilson] emerge...wearing orange jumpsuits bearing the labels "Old" and "Lame." Those labels are perfect descriptions of this unnecessary sequel.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Dec 31, 2018

Film Review: ‘Zoolander 2’

We waited 15 years ... for this?

By Justin Chang

Justin Chang

• Film Review: ‘A Hologram for the King’ 8 years ago
• Cannes: A Look at the Official Selection, by the Numbers 8 years ago
• Film Review: ‘Captain America: Civil War’ 8 years ago

It may have been a really, really ridiculously good-looking idea on paper, but Ben Stiller ’s attempt to bring back one of his more beloved creations feels like a cheap designer knockoff in “ Zoolander 2 .” Falling well below the standards of “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” (2014) in the long-delayed-sequel sweepstakes, this flailing follow-up drags the endearingly dim-witted Derek Zoolander out of retirement for an extended Roman holiday, backed by a parade of real-life celebrities and fashion-world denizens who are now very much in on the joke. If only that joke weren’t so far past its sell-by date: The results may delight those who believe recycled gags and endless cameos to be the very essence of great screen comedy, but everyone else will likely recognize Stiller’s wannabe Magnum opus as a disappointment-slash-misfire, the orange mocha crappuccino of movie sequels.

Just as “Anchorman 2” nearly doubled the worldwide gross of its 2004 predecessor, so Paramount’s extravagantly marketed Feb. 12 release should handily overtake the original “Zoolander’s” $60 million domestic haul, capitalizing on the now-widespread love for a movie ( Terrence Malick is one of its biggest fans ) that didn’t really hit its stride, culturally and commercially, until it entered the home-viewing market. A highly quotable, deliriously off-the-wall spoof that approached its targets with a weird mix of sweetness and savagery, “Zoolander” understandably took some time finding its audience. Bowing mere weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, Stiller’s movie provided some welcome distraction from a national trauma, even if a plot twist involving an assassination attempt on the Malaysian prime minister struck some as unforgivably tasteless (notably Roger Ebert, though he reversed his stance a few years later).

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While it provided a convenient hook on which to hang one inspired burst of silliness after another, the espionage plot was easily the first film’s least compelling element. There’s even more tiresome international intrigue afoot in “Zoolander 2,” which kicks off with Justin Bieber being chased, cornered and machine-gunned to death — a violently protracted tableau that non-Beliebers will probably have converted into GIFs by week’s end. Before he succumbs, the bullet-riddled pop star manages to post one last selfie on Instagram, his features frozen in what appears to be Derek Zoolander’s famous brow-furrowed, pouty-lipped Blue Steel look (the impossibility of distinguishing among all these near-identical poses remains a key running gag).

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Unfortunately, no one has seen Zoolander in years. As we learn in a lengthy catch-up sequence, the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too fell on hard times shortly after it was built, separating our hero from his love interest, Matilda (Christine Taylor, blink and you miss her), and from their young son, Derek Jr. Miserable and forgotten, Zoolander has gone into self-imposed exile in the frigid northern wilds (of New Jersey), huddling alone in a cabin like the world’s best-coiffed mountain man. Meanwhile, his estranged friend and ex-rival, Hansel ( Owen Wilson ), quit modeling after being disfigured in a freak accident, and now spends his days in the parched dunes (of Malibu), wearing a gold mask and having group sex like some yoga-loving Phantom of the Orgy.

And so it’s up to Billy Zane (once again playing himself) to track down these two feuding former Fabios and drag them back into the world of high fashion — specifically, to Rome, where they’re welcomed into the enclave of a vaguely sinister, Donatella Versace-esque fashion empress named Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig, all trout lips and tortured vowels). Alexanya’s lavish, structurally precarious outfits represent by far the most outlandish of Leesa Evan’s cheeky costume designs, though for sheer style it’s hard to beat the form-fitting crimson jumpsuit worn by Valentina Valencia ( Penelope Cruz ), a special agent with “Interpol’s Global Fashion Division” who’s trying to find out who’s killing off Bieber, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Demi Lovato, Lenny Kravitz and the world’s other most beautiful people.

If that already sounds too plotty by half, we haven’t even gotten to the inevitable return of Zoolander’s clown-haired old nemesis, Mugatu (Will Ferrell, energetically nasty as ever), or the “Da Vinci Code”-style legend of a secret bloodline that may hold the key to eternal youth. And then there’s the small matter of the long-lost Derek Jr. (Cyrus Arnold), a pudgy, socially awkward kid who’s been holed up for years at an orphanage in (you guessed it) Rome. Their reunion is anything but a happy one. The boy has nothing but contempt for the dad who abandoned him, while Zoolander is ready to disown his son on the basis of the boy’s less-than-perfect physique: “I’m seriously thinking my fat son might be a terrible person.”

That’s one of the few halfway memorable lines in a script (penned by Stiller, Justin Theroux, John Hamburg and Nicholas Stoller) that otherwise takes what was once breezily enjoyable, if hit-or-miss, and turns it into something that feels awfully close to drudgery. Really, the dumb thing about “Zoolander 2” is that it isn’t nearly dumb enough: Rather than coasting along on a stream of blissful comic idiocy, it cobbles together a busy skein of twists and complications, as if the mental strain of following along might distract us from how crushingly unfunny it is. Things bog down further still with the incessant, obligatory callbacks to the original — look, it’s the Evil DJ! The assistant with the foamy latte! Did we mention Billy Zane? — which land with all the freshness of last decade’s fashion craze. Call it fan service or franchise continuity, but the result is a movie that basically telegraphed its best material 15 years in advance.

Counteracting that tendency to some extent, the writers aim to deliver an up-to-the-minute spoof on the excesses of the fashion industry and the general toxicity of 21st-century celebrity culture. Much of this is embodied by Don Atari (Kyle Mooney), an insufferable young anti-fashion designer who’s like all your worst hipster-douchebag nightmares rolled into one; he’s the kind of forward thinker who would set up a catwalk on an industrial waste site rather than at one of Rome’s famous landmarks (a few of which, including the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and Cinecitta Studios, register fleetingly in d.p. Dan Mindel’s drive-by lensing). Annoying as he is, Atari serves as a reminder that the world of haute couture — already an easy target when Stiller first introduced us to Derek Zoolander at the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards — has long since become its own parody of itself, making any attempt at spoofery redundant at best.

The first “Zoolander” recognized this: It worked not by mocking the absurdity of the fashion scene, but by positioning Stiller and Wilson as absurd, improbably successful figures within that scene. Some (but not much) of the actors’ combative chemistry remains here, and Stiller retains his gift for the well-chosen malapropism, whether he’s describing himself as a “laughingstick” or making unintentional reference to a white-supremacist group. But as actor and director, he seems to exhibit no overarching vision this time around, no sense of driving inspiration or even basic comic timing; the darkly subversive sensibility behind “The Cable Guy” and the few inspired patches of “Tropic Thunder” is entirely absent here.

Perhaps that’s only to be expected from what ultimately feels less like a movie than an exercise in cross-promotional synergy — an excuse for Stiller and Wilson to don Valentino trenchcoats and sashay their way through Paris Fashion Week, blurring the line between a gag and a photo op. Not that the fashion industry’s embrace/co-opting of the “Zoolander” phenomenon would matter if the end product were a movie worthy of an audience’s love. There may not be enough satirical bite to “Zoolander 2,” but there isn’t enough honest affection or silliness, either: It just comes across as toothless and scattershot, whether it’s trotting out Benedict Cumberbatch as a gender-ambivalent supermodel named All, or padding the later scenes with self-mocking (really self-flattering) cameos by Valentino, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger and Anna Wintour.

Those brief cutaways — which are so poorly integrated they might have been filmed in a Siberian meat locker — are at least more germane than the surreally random one-scene appearances of celebrities like Katy Perry, Susan Sarandon, Sting and Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is sadly unable to rationalize the movie’s existence from a cosmological point of view. Presumably Donald Trump was too busy campaigning to make a return visit, but whatever he was up to, it was assuredly more entertaining than this.

Reviewed at Paramount Studios, Los Angeles, Feb. 4, 2016. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 102 MIN.

• Production: A Paramount release and presentation of a Red Hour/Scott Rudin production. Produced by Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld, Rudin, Clayton Townsend, Jeff Mann.
• Crew: Directed by Ben Stiller. Screenplay, Justin Theroux, Stiller, John Hamburg, Nicholas Stoller, based on the characters created by Drake Sather, Stiller. Camera (Deluxe color, Panavision widescreen), Dan Mindel; editor, Greg Hayden; music, Theodore Shapiro; music supervisor, George Drakoulias; production designer, Jeff Mann; art directors, Saverio Sammali, Armando Savoia; set decorator, Lucy Eyre; costume designer, Leesa Evans; sound (Dolby Digital), Maurizio Argentieri; sound designer, Craig Henighan; re-recording mixers, Skip Lievsay, Henighan; stunt coordinators, Greg Fitzpatrick, Franco Maria Salamon; special effects supervisors, Daniel Dominic Acon, Maurizio Corridori; visual effects supervisor, Max Wood; visual effects producer, Lauren Ritchie; visual effects, Pasquale Di Viccaro, Mr. X Gotham, Lola VFX, MPC, the Artery, Psyop, Territory Studio; associate producers, Sarah Rae Davidson, John Hudson, Mike Rosenstein; line producer, Marco Valerio Pugini; assistant director, David H. Venghaus Jr.; second unit director, Jeff Mann; casting, Rachel Tenner.
• With: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penelope Cruz, Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, Kyle Mooney, Milla Jovovich, Christine Taylor, Justin Theroux, Nathan Lee Graham, Cyrus Arnold, Billy Zane, Jon Daly, Sting, Benedict Cumberbatch, Justin Bieber, Billy Zane, Katy Perry, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sting, Anna Wintour, Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Kate Moss, Valentino. (English, Italian dialogue)

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Zoolander 2

Derek and Hansel are lured into modelling again, in Rome, where they find themselves the target of a sinister conspiracy. Derek and Hansel are lured into modelling again, in Rome, where they find themselves the target of a sinister conspiracy. Derek and Hansel are lured into modelling again, in Rome, where they find themselves the target of a sinister conspiracy.

• Ben Stiller
• Justin Theroux
• Nicholas Stoller
• Owen Wilson
• Penélope Cruz
• 244 User reviews
• 255 Critic reviews
• 34 Metascore
• 7 wins & 17 nominations

Top cast 99+

• Valentina Valencia

• Jacobim Mugatu

• Justin Bieber

• Agent Filippo

• Katie Couric

• Mom Tourist

• Girl Tourist

• Christian Amanpour

• Jane Pauley

• Prime Minister of Malaysia
• (archive footage)
• (as Woodrow Asai)

• Joe Scarborough
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia The announcement for the movie came from a fashion show where Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson walked down the runway, in character, as Derek and Hansel.
• Goofs When the helicopter takes off from Thimble Island fashion prison the tail rotor is not spinning.

Mugatu : You're asking me why I killed Justin Bieber?

• Connections Featured in The Saturday Show: Episode #1.10 (2016)
• Soundtracks Ignite Written and Performed by Greg Pajer & Nicolas Farmakalidis

User reviews 244

• michaeltong-29180
• May 3, 2016
• How long is Zoolander 2? Powered by Alexa
• What's "the Magnum edition"? I've noticed that on Amazon, but couldn't find an explaination anywhere...
• February 12, 2016 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Official Twitter
• Zoolander No. 2
• Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy
• Panorama Films
• Red Hour Films
• Scott Rudin Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $50,000,000 (estimated)
• $28,848,693
• $13,841,146
• Feb 14, 2016
• $56,722,693

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 41 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Movie Reviews

'zoolander 2' can't quite walk the walk-off anymore.

Scott Tobias

Ben Stiller plays Derek Zoolander and Owen Wilson plays Hansel in Zoolander 2 . Philippe Antonello/Courtesy of Paramount Pictures hide caption

Ben Stiller plays Derek Zoolander and Owen Wilson plays Hansel in Zoolander 2 .

Released just two weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks — which prompted Roger Ebert, in a one-star review , to offer it as a reason why Americans are hated in some parts of the world (he later apologized ) — Ben Stiller's Zoolander found a country in no mood to laugh at its whimsical send-up of fashion-world excess. But the younger generation might be surprised to learn it wasn't a hit, given how thoroughly its catchphrases, looks, "walk-offs" and accessories (Orange Mocha Frappuccino, anyone?) have infiltrated our meme-friendly culture. Like Anchorman 2 a little over a year ago, Zoolander 2 cashes in on a phenomenon that was slow to develop, reuniting stars and a creative team that have been scattered to the winds for over a decade. In both cases, bottling that old magic proves frustratingly elusive.

At least Anchorman 2 had a strong concept—the dawn of 24/7 cable news—around which to work its improvised chicanery. Based on the evidence, Zoolander 2 seems like the result of a 15-year game of "exquisite corpse," the surrealist exercise where different writers add to a story independent of each other, strand by strand, without full knowledge of previous contributions. Though the first film wasn't exactly a model of streamlined plotting, with its murky assassination scheme around Malaysian child labor laws, it looks like Spot Goes to the Farm compared to the sequel's ornate mythology involving underground fashion Illuminati, a "Chosen One" figure, and the search for the Fountain of Youth. Credited to four different screenwriters — Stiller, Justin Theroux, Nicholas Stoller and John Hamburg — the film is a gaudier indulgence than anything Mugatu, its poodle-haired evil mastermind, could dream up.

Zoolander 2 opens with a dizzying recap of all that's happened to "the really, really ridiculously good-looking" male model Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and his runway rival-turned-friend Hansel (Owen Wilson). Since the shoddily constructed Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good collapsed into a river, killing his girlfriend (Christine Taylor) and scarring Hansel's pristine face, Derek has become a recluse in the snow-capped wilds of northern New Jersey, while Hansel has retired to the dunes of Malibu with a half-dozen orgy-mates. Derek has also lost his son to Child Protective Services, due to his inability to soften hard spaghetti, among other parenting failures. Derek and Hansel are called back into action after a series of celebrities, like Justin Bieber, have been gunned down, each mimicking one of Derek's signature looks as a death mask.

Ten minutes in, and this is already too much for even the narrator of Jane the Virgin to recount gracefully. But there's much more: Derek and Hansel are whisked off to Rome, where they team up with Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz), an Interpol operative, and poke around at a fashion empire run by Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig), whose face alone is a haute couture experiment. The cut-to-the-chase version of the plot involves the escape of Mugatu (Will Ferrell) from a prison compound and the ruthless search for a "Chosen One" type who holds the key to eternal youth.

To put it as generously as possible, the Zoolander movies view the fashion world like an exclusive, sinister sect that few understand and even fewer can access. Neither of them could be called satires — they're too full of random silliness for that — but the first film was tethered enough to the industry that it got off some good jokes, like an expensive fashion line inspired by the homeless (Derelicte!) or the imperceptible variations on the same pouty stare. Zoolander 2 , by contrast, feels like a fruitless spitballing session committed to film, with gags as hastily tossed off as the plot is absurdly byzantine.

The decision to frame Zoolander 2 like a grotesque, art-damaged James Bond thriller reflects how much Stiller has changed, too, in the 15 years since the first film came out. Though Stiller's propensity for conceptual goofs has been a staple of his comedy since his sketch days in the late '80s and early '90s, the scale of his films has ballooned as his star has risen. That may be fine for a war-movie spoof like 2008's Tropic Thunder , but the added bloat does nothing for a weightless riff on fashionistas. With its nonstop parade of big-name cameos, the experience of watching Zoolander 2 is like being the plus-one at a Hollywood party where the guests are all blasted on synthetics. It's loud, garish and distracted, and doesn't care much about showing you a good time.

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'Zoolander No. 2': EW review

In addition to being very funny, the first Zoolander was a resilient little comedy. Ben Stiller’s low satire of high fashion landed in theaters less than three weeks after 9/11. And while the country wasn’t quite ready to laugh at the helium-light high jinks of a pair of clueless male models at the time, it ended up having the legs of a catwalk Amazon on DVD. A cult hit was born. Unfortunately, bad timing is a problem again with Zoolander No. 2 . Not because of anything in the headlines, just because it’s been so long since we first met Stiller and Owen Wilson’s dim-and-dimmer narcissists Derek and Hansel that a sequel—or at least this sequel—feels sad and desperate, like a comic who doesn’t know when to get off stage. The flop sweat drips from the opening scene, where a labored Justin Bieber gag barely elicits a chuckle but provides the film with its lazy plot trigger: Who’s killing the world’s biggest pop stars? It’s all downhill from there as Stiller and co-writers Justin Theroux, John Hamburg, and Nicholas Stoller flail at the lowest-hanging pop culture fruit. For reasons too uninteresting to explain, Derek and Hansel team up in Rome with a member of Interpol’s fashion division (a game Penélope Cruz) to foil the evil Mugatu (Will Ferrell) and his leathery, Donatella Versace-esque partner in crime (Kristen Wiig) while reuniting with Derek’s estranged and (gasp!) chubby son. The thing is, if Stiller spent half as much time sharpening the film’s jokes as he did rifling through his Rolodex for celebrity cameos (Willie Nelson, Kiefer Sutherland, Susan Boyle?!), he might’ve coughed up a few laughs. As it is, though, Zoolander No. 2 is embarrassing, lazy, and aggressively unfunny. The only good news is that at the pace the franchise is moving, we won’t get Zoolander 3 until 2030. C–

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