Zoolander 2

This review may contain spoilers!

I think the careers of Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Penelope Cruz are in their death throes after this. I would give Zoolander 2 a 2/10.

What I do have to say for this sequel is that there were some nice special effects, the scene in which Zoolander wrecks his car is especially good. The score for this film really shows the tone shift of the sequel to a sort of spy film quite well, the soundtrack on the other hand has some fun throwbacks to the original Zoolander which was nice to hear.

Benedict Cumberbatch, who played All, was the centre of a great joke about the modern fashion industry as well as perception of gender in this film; it was a fun scene and Cumberbatch was clearly having fun. Penelope Cruz, who played Valentina, was great as the law enforcement agent in this film; she was very forceful and had quite a commanding presence. Will Ferrell, who played Mugatu, was such a joy to see reprising this role; I love seeing Ferrell's megalomaniac rants in this film. Ben Stiller, who played Derek Zoolander, did a good job as the title protagonist; Stiller's quite comfortable in this role and has the basic style of Zoolander down. Owen Wilson, who played Hansel, finally has his moment in the spotlight in this film; there are several instances in this film where you feel like Wilson carries the action and has the most engaging subplots. Justin Bieber, who played himself, presented one of the greatest intros to a comedy film that I've seen in a while; as much as I enjoyed seeing him die I have to commend Bieber for having one of the best onscreen cameos in this film. Kiefer Sutherland, who played himself, had so much chemistry with Wilson in this film; I really enjoyed the rather bizarre love story between those two characters. John Malkovich, who played Skip Taylor, had a great cameo and fashion rant in this film; I felt Malkovich's cameo went back to the core humour this film was grounded on. Neil deGrasse Tyson, who played himself, had one of my personal favourite cameos of the film; his Magnum was by far the most standout of all the cast. M.C. Hammer, who played himself, was another great cameo in this film; the humour that can be done with Hammer can be very repetitive but it certainly lands in this film. Susan Boyle, who played herself, had a great memorable cameo in this film; her crude brushing off of the paparazzi was hysterical.

However the best performance came from Sting, who played himself. I love that Sting could deliver the zaniest, most outlandish and poorly written monologue I've ever heard with such a flawless and interesting tone. Frankly he was in the middle of a rather awful storyline and he made it fun with his immense screen presence. I liked the chemistry between him and Wilson and it was very gratifying to see that paid off with the reveal that he was Wilson's father at the end of the film.

The story for this film makes zero sense, it's hastily cobbled together and leaves you bored for long periods of time. Ultimately what we're presented with is a story that feels like it's from a D grade science fiction writer, implausible plot points and stupid twists. The comedy in this film isn't really there at all; even the throwbacks to the original film can be very hit and miss. The editing for this film really bugged me, the transitions through people's eyes into the next scene looked awful. The cinematography for this film was rather simple and looked downright awful in some scenes, if they were going to make Zoolander 2 a spy film they should have upped their camerawork.

Kristen Wiig, who played Alexanya Atoz, just felt like she was trying too hard in this film; Wiig's role was incredibly redundant and probably didn't even need to be in this film. Justin Theroux, who played Evil DJ, is as forgettable in this film as he was in the first film; I honestly barely noticed him and still don't really understand why he was brought into the film. Milla Jovovich, who played Katinka, was revealed probably a little too late into the film; i wish her role had been treated better when she had appeared rather than put into a cheap joke with Cruz. Christine Taylor, who played Matilda Jeffries, didn't really need to be back in this film; the jokes around her being dead weren't even all that funny. Billy Zane, who played himself, had very little screen presence in this film; Zane delivers dialogue pretty terribly in this film as well. Katy Perry, who played herself, has a very forgettable cameo in this film; in fact her cameo is immediately overshadowed by deGrasse Tyson. Fred Armisen, who played VIP, was a rather annoying role; he wasn't a very funny performer. Cyrus Arnold, who played Derek Zoolander Jr, couldn't act to save himself in this film; worse than that was he and Stiller had no chemistry in this film. Nathan Lee Graham, who played Todd, was another returning performer that just didn't deliver in this film; Graham's performance just dwindled in the presence of Ferrell. Kyle Mooney, who played Don Atari, wasn't a very funny side character in this film; the jokes around his character were very repetitive and grew tiresome quickly. Anna Wintour, who played herself, was the headliner of a set of cameos that were just boring in this film; I really hated the Fountain of youth scene and a big portion of that was the weak cameos Wintour and her co-stars provided.