Zoolander 2

There are dumb smart comedies, then there are dumb dumb comedies, and after viewing "Zoolander 2", I walked out of that theater realizing that this film fell into the latter category. Truly I wasn't asking for an Academy Award caliber film, but, com'on I thought I'd get something a bit wittier than was presented.

In this continuation of the first installment, we find that Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) has gone into seclusion because the institute that he built was made of inferior materials thus toppling the structure into the Hudson River killing his wife, Matilda (Christine Taylor) and barely surviving along with his son. His partner/friend in the modeling biz, Hansel (Owen Wilson) was injured as well and subsequently left modeling. A newer, famed fashion magnate in Rome, ATOZ headed up by Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig) woos them both back into the biz with a new show. Little do they know that the invite is merely a scheme to do them in with the help of Mugatu (Will Ferrell). It gets so involved that Valentina (Penelope Cruz), the head of fashion police at Interpol has to be summoned to assist.

Others to round out the cast are Justin Theroux as Evil DJ, Milla Jovovich as Katinka, Billy Zane as Billy Zane, Benedict Cumberbatch as All and Cyrus Arnold as Derek Zoolander Jr.

Whereas the original "Zoolander" was a bit better than its successor, this simply meandered all over the place. There were some funny moments, but overall, this needed help hugely. Although the direction by Ben Stiller ("Reality Bites" '94, "The Cable Guy" '96, "Zoolander" '01, "Tropic Thunder" '08, "The Station" (TV movie) '09, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" '13) was very well done--certainly at a pace that we would come to expect considering the type of comedy this is, but the writing by Justin Theroux, Stiller, Nicholas Stoller and John Hamburg was questionable at best. What's interesting is that all these writers are not new to penning a script, but I believe the culprit was that there were too many writers on board--too many 'hands in the pot' here. There were places where the actors appeared they didn't know what to say next, and it was just too choppy in places that caused it to get so bogged down. And there were way too many cameos from big name stars which ended up causing confusion, and ended up not being the funny film this could have been. No, the original wasn't great, but this was not well penned when it could have been, especially considering the writing power behind this film.

Certainly if you liked the original, you'll like this, but if you're looking for a script that's fresh, original and funny throughout, this one you might as well pass on. Hey, if one thinks that this might have promise for being a high-quality, very funny film, then you couldn't have done your homework in this. I did my homework, and was still disappointed. You be the judge.

Out of 4 Stars: 1.5                                    Rated: PG-13                                    102mins.