'Zoolander' strikes gold with first trailer

Posted Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 2:44 PM Central

by John Couture

There's gold in this here trailer. Comic gold that is.

Zoolander as a film is akin to a fine wine, it gets better with age. Yes, that's an absurd statement, but it doesn't mean that it's not true.

When I first watched the film in 2002, I was pleasantly surprised, but not gushing with effusive praise. Like many cult hits, the film gained more appreciation over repeat viewings. So, when Paramount announced that they were finally making a sequel after 14 years, I wasn't surprised, but I was a bit skeptical.

The reason that the original film works is that it is so absurd and over the top, but it it a hard formula to replicate. You only have to look as far as all of the carcasses of the silly, failed sequels that Hollywood has greenlit over the year to realize that not all sequels are created equal.

With a film such as Zoolander, the tricky thing is that if the sequel is subpar, it could actually take away from the original film. Personally, I think Dumb and Dumber will never be the same now that we can't get the taste of Dumb and Dumber To out of our mouths.

So, it was with a little bit of trepidation that I hit the play button on the trailer for Zoolander 2. Thankfully, my fears were alleviated a bit when the laughs started to roll. This is good news especially in light of the first teaser trailer which was mediocre at best.

As you can see from the posters (above and below), Paramount is embracing the high fashion lifestyle in its marketing materials. While it remains to be seen whether Zoolander 2 will be able to live up to the lofty heights of the original, but this first full-length trailer is a promising start.

There's a real Austin Powers vibe going on and that works for me. Zoolander 2 is set for a February 12, 2016 release.