Zoolander 2 (2016), PG-13, ★

They are being beautiful and thrilling simultaneously. 

Zoolander, its predecessor, was a movie that I thought had one hilarious moment (the gas station scene) and some good laughs but ultimately was a decent movie one can watch on cable. There has been a lot of inspired comedic antics from Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell and Owen Wilson that rips off the fashion industry in terms of superficiality, media and runway appearances. But, somehow, director Ben Stiller has the celebrities in hand as to ripping off, again, the fashion industry a lot more than throwing in the usual laughter. The movie is missing laughs from a comedy that made me squirm and almost doze off than actually persuading me to laugh. 

The movie starts out with a recap of what is going on with the characters. Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) was once the hottest male model until his charity place, The Derek Zoolander for Kids Who Do Not Read Good and What They Want to Learn Even More Things, collapses since the latter was constructed using the same material with the preparation model. Matilda (Christine Taylor) and Hansel's (Owen Wilson) face gets disfigured. Mugatu (Will Ferrell) is sentenced to a maximum security prison. And, Derek loses his custody of his son, Derek Jr. and retires modeling to his own private life.

Meanwhile, in the present, random "beautiful" celebrities are being murdered and an Interpol agent and former model mannequin, Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz) follows the case as she finds out all of the celebrities follow the Zoolander face. The latter is shaken up and he receives an invitation from a renowned designer, Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig), to go to a parade. Hansel also receives a letter and flees from his fellow orgy, having impregnated the whole group. The show provides to become a failure but Valentina hires Hansel and Derek due to their "professional" expression criteria. They think that Atoz is involved in the killings. 

Mutagu, his dog and his henchman. 

This is a terrible movie. I felt like they embellish every outtake or joke from the first movie and put in an offensive context making fun of transvestites, people of color and originality. It's an awful copycat of the first movie. There's no inspiration and comic factor that it makes it look like a Saturday Night Live episode with no laughs and no talent involved. Were kids writing this movie while the usual writers were off break or something? But, also, Stiller relies too much on its cameos and presentation more than its story. The case is not that interesting nor that funny. 

Ben Stiller tries too hard to persuade us to laugh but again, the dialogue and low-IQ persona is dated and lackluster. His chemistry with Owen Wilson works from time to time but even their chemistry does not rise up to the next level. Penelope Cruz is beautiful but is there to be beautiful and try to lend another strong female character but is forgettable. Kristen Wiig is not funny in this movie which is shocking. The only aspect I will forgive is Will Ferrell's character and comic timing. He has some moments that made me laugh and that's pretty much it. 

This movie was like comedy poison that makes me beg to have the antidote. Again, the material relies too much on the gags from the first movie and the celebrity cameos throwing in a joke but there are just cameos to be in the movie to get a paycheck. Maybe a Zoolander version of Where's Waldo? is much better than a sequel trying to find his character. This is without question one of the laziest comedy sequels in a while and even though it is a short year so far, it will definitely be in my list of The Worst Movies of 2016. This product does not work. 

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