Zoolander 2, or by it’s affectionate nicknames Twolander or Zoolander no. 2, follows the story of the same characters as the original, but they are now washed-up and forgotten. The long awaited sequel hit theaters last week, 15 years after the release of the original. Needless to say, the hype surrounding it was equal to that of other anticipated movies like Deadpool and Kung Fu Panda 3.
Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), who goes by the name of Erik Toolander for the first 10 or so minutes, shows up in the beginning of the movie looking shaggy but still fashion ready, in a fit of despair, and Hansel (Owen Wilson) begins the film wearing a mask that he has vowed never to remove. After they both receive an invitation to a big show in Rome (and their first show in years) the two bond over their trying pasts while trying to rekindle some severed relationships.
The first thing that caught my attention was the immense amount of celebrity cameos. From Justin Bieber in the first scene, Billy Zane, Benedict Cumberbatch, Skillex, Katy Perry, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Kate Moss, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Madonna, Jerome Jarre and Kanye West. Furthermore, the level of endorsements from Netflix, Uber, Samsung and more were through the roof—not on par with Jurassic World endorsements, but still hefty. That said, the film was exactly as I expected it to be: unbelievably corny to the point of hilarity. That said, the plot wasn’t much different from the first one—same villain, same conflict, same ending.
Many allusions to the first one were made, like the tiny cell phone, “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the classic scene filled only with weight jokes. My favorite character had to be Cumberbatch playing “All,” an androgynous supermodel who speaks in the third person and seems to delight in making the other models uncomfortable. Overall, the hype around the movie had more to do with the celebrities than it did with the actual story, the film was decent and I would be likely to watch it again.

★★★☆☆