“Zoolander 2”

Susan Granger’s review of “Zoolander 2” (Paramount Pictures)

 

It’s all in the cameos! Not those carved brooches – the brief, self-parodying celebrity appearances that pepper and spice Ben Stiller’s sequel to his 2001 cult comedy about the fashion industry, focusing on vain, vacuous male models.

After the tragic death of his wife (Christine Taylor) in the wreckage of the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too, male model Derek (Stiller) lost custody of his young son and went into hiding in “extreme Northern New Jersey.”

Across the country in the wild sand dunes of Malibu, his frenemy Hansel (Owen Wilson) is having fatherhood issues with members of the motley “family” he moved in with after an extended orgy.

So when Billy Zane invites them to put on a show in Rome, hosted by fashionista Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig), the dynamic duo not only reluctantly reunite on the catwalk but also embark on a dangerous mission with the fashion police’s Interpol Agent Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz).

As Derek reconnects with his chubby, now-teenage son, Derek Jr. (Cyrus Arnold), Valentina is determined to discover why pop music stars, like Justin Bieber, are being murdered while flashing Derek’s signature, cheek-sucking look.

Adding to the mischievous conspiracy muddle, there’s the imbecilic reappearance of diabolical, megalomaniacal Mugatu (Will Ferrell) and a search for the secret bloodline leading to the Fountain of Youth, culminating at the Incredi-Ball held at the Baths of Caracalla.

Working from a skit-like, ridiculous script that’s cobbled together by Justin Theroux (who appears as Evil DJ), Nicholas Stiller and John Hamburg, it’s co-written/directed by Stiller, who pays tantric tribute to Sting and is accessorized by an androgynous, ambisexual supermodel dubbed “All” (Benedict Cumberbatch).

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Zoolander 2” is a strained, silly 6. Unfortunately, subversive humor doesn’t always age well, particularly in an era when Gwyneth Paltrow has transformed her conspicuous consumption into Goop.

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