My Review of "Zoolander"

Zoolander is such a brilliantly funny movie and I keep forgetting that until I re-watch this movie. This movie came out back in 2001 and I'm still laughing hard whenever I see it. Admittedly there are a few jokes in this movie that wouldn't work out in today's climate and I guess that's why we can't have comedies like this anymore.

The movie starts out with a conference with the heads of the fashion world. It's a brilliant concept that no one has ever tackled. Apparently, the prime minister of Malaysia is trying to end child labor practices and have clothing manufacturers given fair wages. Obviously the fashion world hates this because this means an end to low costing labor for their products.

They go the drastic measure by trying to figure out how to assassinate the prime minister of Malaysia. This way they prevent the act from being passed. The funny thing is that their assassin's are male models. I thought the rational behind having male models as deadly assassins was hilarious. They're really fit, they can get into any hard to get places because of their looks, they're not supposed to be incredibly bright and they follow orders like proper soldiers.

The male model that they choose in this case is Zoolander. He's probably the dumbest of everyone in the industry but he's having an existential crisis about his profession. He's now a veteran and the younger models are stealing his thunder. In particular he has a huge rivalry with a new prodigy by the name of Hansel.

The two of them have some uproariously funny rival exchanges throughout the movie. They are such extreme versions of what the public envisions models that you can't help but laugh at the absurdity. In fact all of the characters are such extreme exaggerations that you really wonder what the real fashion world is like because some of the jokes they make can't totally be that far from reality.

One of the amazing things I noticed in this movie is how well it flowed. If anyone else had made this movie it would probably feel like a whole slew of sketch comedy scenes sewn together to make a movie. Instead this movie feels like each of the comedy sketch scenes has a real purpose throughout the movie. They make references and come back again to these jokes which is a nice touch. It doesn't hurt that the jokes were so funny the first time that when they make callbacks to the jokes again we're reminded at how funny the joke was in the first place. It just adds an extra layer to an already hilarious scene.

I also have to admit a lot of the fun also comes from nostalgia. Back when I first saw it. I was with a group of friends and we had an outrageous time watching this movie and in some ways this movie brings me back to those days. This movie has a special place in my heart because it came out in my formative years when I truly came to appreciate comedy in movies. It almost felt like those where the golden age of comedy movies for me. I remember the references and the attitude of the times.

That's not to say that people today watching this movie won't get it. Although there would be certain jokes and references that they might not totally get. Over the years this movie has become somewhat of a cult classic. It's even made itself into popular culture with memes and popular quotes. There's no way of avoiding this movie because of it's cultural significance to popular culture.

Overall, I have to say I have a very biased opinion about this movie. I loved it back when it came out and I still love it today when I re-watched it. It's not only a really funny comedy, it feels like a really well crafted comedy style that can't ever be replicated today because of the climate we live in today. I have to give this movie a 10 out of 10. It is and will always be up there in one of my favorites.