I just want to start out by saying that I really enjoyed the movie. That's not to say that it didn't have it's problems, but it excelled in what mattered most: It was an excellent representation of what made the original so great. I think if this movie had come out 10-15 years ago, after the first movie, it would be receiving a slew of positive reviews. The humor is the same, the acting is the same, and the writing is the same. By that I mean the whole movie's pretty corny, with dumb one liners and intentionally bad acting, but when you get right down to it the original was too. What's currently popular changes extremely quickly, especially in the comedy world. With that in mind, the style of the movie feels dated. But anyone complaining about how it doesn't stand up to the original or that it's a bust is viewing the first Zoolander through heavy nostalgia glasses. Zoolander was always corny, the acting was always dumb, the writing corny, that's what made it great.
The negative reviews ignore what made Zoolander great in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I love the new style of comedies; those mixed with action like Kingsman, those more mainstream like 21 Jump Street, and the dry existential comedies like Grand Budapest Hotel, but if you can allow yourself to forgive a bit of corniness and just watch this movie with the same sensibilities you viewed the original, you'll be in for a lot of laughs. Like Derek and Hansel the style's a bit washed up, but at it's core the movie is still the best of it's kind. If you can leave behind your cynicism and doubt for a few hours, you'll find yourself laughing throughout the whole movie (with some parts hitting or missing a little more than others).
The bottom line is that if you still like the original for its humor rather than for nostalgic reasons, you'll like this movie too.
The negative reviews ignore what made Zoolander great in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I love the new style of comedies; those mixed with action like Kingsman, those more mainstream like 21 Jump Street, and the dry existential comedies like Grand Budapest Hotel, but if you can allow yourself to forgive a bit of corniness and just watch this movie with the same sensibilities you viewed the original, you'll be in for a lot of laughs. Like Derek and Hansel the style's a bit washed up, but at it's core the movie is still the best of it's kind. If you can leave behind your cynicism and doubt for a few hours, you'll find yourself laughing throughout the whole movie (with some parts hitting or missing a little more than others).
The bottom line is that if you still like the original for its humor rather than for nostalgic reasons, you'll like this movie too.