Review: ‘Zoolander 2’ Starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penélope Cruz & Will Ferrell

The bend/break rules of comedic malleability are well established, but do not forget the dictum that schtick barely expands. If cinema has taught us anything, it’s that there's nearly a zero-tolerance policy for the comedy sequel, one of the most difficult nuts to crack. And while comedy follow-ups are something Paramount Pictures have been curiously invested in of late ("Hot Tub Time Machine 2," “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”), “Zoolander 2,” Ben Stiller’s largely tiresome, predictable and belated sequel to his 2001 fashion-world comedy, is not a wise bet.

Mostly uninspired, overcooked, over-plotted, and cobbled together by a string of warmed-over jokes — credited to four writers, no less — “Zoolander 2” at least has the good sense to begin by killing Justin Bieber. But the goodwill earned in assassinating the world’s smuggest pop star is short-lived. 

It's revealed that Bieber has been gunned down by a secret cabal that is mysteriously terminating the...