10 Movie Sequels That Failed To Recapture The Magic
6. Zoolander 2
A good sequel builds upon its predecessor, enriching the lore, characters, and the established universe. A bad sequel, like Zoolander 2, does the opposite.
Zoolander pokes fun at the absurdity of the fashion world and Ben Stiller delivers a performance leaving you wondering how anyone could be that dumb. Only a genius could pull that off.
The sequel fails to add anything new, however, and is a poor imitation job. It recycles the original's jokes while forgetting the funny parts, and even detracts from its own characters.
Ben Stiller's character is now washed up and out of touch, but instead of adapting and changing with the times, Derek Zoolander tries to drag his old schtick kicking and screaming in to the current times. It's almost metaphorical for the sequel itself, and while Derek does eventually succeed, the film does not.
In the end, the satire element is lost and instead of adding to what made Zoolander so good, the sequel takes away. There are some good laughs to be found throughout its runtime and it's not completely unwatchable, but it feels hollow, devoid of the satirical spirit that imbued the original outing.