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'Zoolander 2': Just as dumb as the first one, not nearly as funny

Zoolander, Ben Stiller's 2001 cult fave, was a one-joke movie that happened to be predicated on a very stupid, but very funny, joke: What if a male model was tasked with superspy duties?

Ben Stiller portrays Derek Zoolander, left, and Owen Wilson portrays Hansel  in 'Zoolander 2.'
Ben Stiller portrays Derek Zoolander, left, and Owen Wilson portrays Hansel in 'Zoolander 2.'Read moreWilson Webb/Paramount Pictures

Zoolander, Ben Stiller's 2001 cult fave, was a one-joke movie that happened to be predicated on a very stupid, but very funny, joke: What if a male model was tasked with superspy duties?

Fifteen years later, Stiller's titular male model returns, along with his best bud/rival/one-time sexual partner Hansel (Owen Wilson), for a sequel that tries to go bigger: more action, more cameos, sadly less David Bowie. But Stiller is still working off the premise of one joke, and while it may keep one movie afloat and in the hearts and minds of stoned college students everywhere, that one joke can't keep two moving, no matter how much time has passed and how many cameos it has stuffed within its running time.

(Also, can we talk about how much of a tragedy it is that this movie is not called 2oolander?)

In a lot of ways, Zoolander 2 is like Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. The first Anchorman, like Zoolander, was a movie that benefited from cable repeats, home-video viewers, and the Internet to keep its legacy afloat after its initial release. A much-anticipated sequel was released nine years later, and it came and went, none of its jokes landing in the One-Liner Hall of Fame ("I love lamp" it did not contain).

For every laugh that Zoolander 2 elicits, there's a pang that all this was funnier the first time around.

In 2016, male superdupermodel Derek Zoolander is in hiding, living his life as a "hermit crab," after he has inadvertently killed his wife, Matilda (Stiller's real-life wife, Christine Taylor), when the Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too collapses because Zoolander insists on building it with the same material he used to create the model building (think rubber cement and Popsicle sticks).

Derek is called back into action by a Donatella Versace-esque Kristen Wiig, reuniting him with the similarly exiled Hansel. But it has been 15 years since the ridiculously good-looking guys hit the runway, and the fashion world has changed drastically.

But there's trouble afoot. Someone is killing all of the beautiful pop stars - including Justin Bieber - and the Interpol Fashion Division (a.k.a. the Fashion Police) are on the case, led by Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz). The plots collide, and the famous faces start to appear on-screen.

Look, Zoolander 2 is stupid fun, and if you're looking forward to not thinking for a couple hours, you could do so much worse. There are some moments of brilliance, like the climactic scene featuring Will Ferrell reprising his role as Mugatu, which may be worth the ticket price alone.

But we've also been here before, and Zoolander 2 can't reach the madcap hilarity of the first iteration. Although, Zoolander 2 has one thing going for it: It's just as stupid as its predecessor.

meichel@phillynews.com

215-854-5909 @mollyeichel