Fifteen years after Ben Stiller’s “model idiot” Derek Zoolander stopped a lethal flying star with his Magnum pout (“It’s so beautiful!”), this baggy, back-slapping sequel fails to recapture the magic that made the original a quotable hit. Called out of reclusive retirement in the wake of a wave of pouty pop star selfie murders, Zoolander and Hansel (Owen Wilson, no longer so hot right now) find themselves teaming up with Penélope Cruz’s Interpol agent (fashion division) Valentina for reasons best described as “plot heavy”. Before, we got a delightfully throwaway cameo from David Bowie; now we suffer a portentous buildup to an altogether more dreary rock icon appearance, just one of umpteen famous faces eager to be in on the joke. Benedict Cumberbatch’s fleeting character, All, may have been pilloried as a transphobic stereotype, but a more damning complaint is that Cumberbatch just isn’t very funny – like the film itself.
