Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Clear the runway for Derek Zoolander, VH1's three-time male model of the year. His face falls when hippie-chic Hansel scooters in to steal this year's award. The evil fashion guru Mugatu seizes the opportunity to turn Derek into a killing machine. It's a well-designed conspiracy and only with the help of Hansel and a few well-chosen accessories like Matilda can Derek make the world safe for male models everywhere.
Zoolander is a genuinely singular comedy — its deadpan absurdist skewering of the fashion world, with Stiller's iconic dim-bulb Derek and a parade of celebrity cameos, creates a one-of-a-kind comedic voice that still feels unmistakable decades later. The acting is committed and funny across the board, with Stiller, Wilson, and Ferrell all leaning hard into their ridiculous archetypes. However, the plot is paper-thin even by spoof standards — the brainwashing assassination premise is stretched razor-thin and the pacing loses steam in the third act. Cinematography is functional but unremarkable, serving the jokes rather than adding visual craft. The ending is weak and rushed, wrapping up its absurdist threads in a perfunctory way that doesn't match the film's zaniest moments.