10 years later, Zoolander 2 is a reminder of why comedy should start from the beginning

He belongs to David Duchovny Fail Better podcast in 2024, Ben Stiller admitted to taking part Zoolander 2 thinking “everyone wants this.” So, when the film flops, it shakes him to the point of his extraordinary beauty. The high-energy performer behind classic 2000s comedies Dodgeball, Meet the Parents, Tropic Thunderand the original Zoolander suddenly wondered if he had lost his sense of what was funny. Clear doubts linger with Stiller as he transitions into a new era in his career as the director behind such critically acclaimed dramatic series as Escape in Dannemora And Termination.

But the widely known lesson about Zoolander 2’s failure should have been clear long before its release in February 2016: Sequels are hard. Especially in the 2010s, when Hollywood continues to showcase classic works Announcer, Stupid and StupidAnd Drunk for unsatisfactory follow-up. As Netflix begins to phase out theatrical comedies as reliable box-office hits, Hollywood is turning to nostalgia and large casts as a quick fix. The only problem? No one stops to ask what made the original film work. A decade after its release, Zoolander 2 is an example of why comedy sequels of the 2010s saw such a decline, and why the genre is still struggling today.

Directed and starring Stiller, Zoolander 2 brings dim-witted supermodel actor Derek Zoolander back to the world of fashion shows 15 years after the original became a cult comedy hit. Directed by and starring Stiller alongside Owen Wilson as rival model Hansel, the sequel follows the duo as they become embroiled in an Interpol conspiracy tied to the murder of the world’s most beautiful people. The film relies heavily on celebrity cameos and fashion world satire in an attempt to recapture the absurdist magic of the original film.

Zoolander 2 begins with the shooting of Justin Bieber, which immediately ties the film to a very specific era of the mid-2010s. Right off the bat, Stiller signals that he’s not leaning into the same goofy comedy that made the original film a hit. Instead, he tried to update the formula, clearly aiming to conform to what Hollywood thought was funny at the time: callbacks and cameos.

Although the first one Zoolander has cameos with big names like Billy Zane and David Bowie, they feel woven into the story, having important moments rather than just popping in for applause. In the Zoolander 2it’s more about callbacks than contributions. Zane is back, the foam latte assistant is back, even Evil DJ makes an appearance, but this time it all feels thinner, more like cheap fan service than anything important.

What makes it original Zoolander the job is Derek and Hansel playing fools in a mostly normal world. They feel like the end of fashion nonsense. In the sequel, the rest of the world is just as ridiculous, so the jokes fall flat. Add in all the celebrity faces, and it stops feeling like a parody of reality and starts to feel like a parody of itself.

You could say the same about 2013 news anchor 2, which crams Kanye West, Liam Neeson, Harrison Ford, and Will Smith into its bloated 2-hour runtime. A year later, Stupid and Stupid For forgetting that Lloyd and Harry worked because they were clueless, not cruel, and thought they were jerks rather than stupid. Many comedies from that time turned into something notoriously terrible Movie 43brings more celebrity faces to the screen than actual jokes.

Zoolander 2 ultimately becoming part of the slow collapse of theatrical comedy. This is a film that chooses to play it safe and lean on brand recognition rather than making any real changes. Like most of his peers, he failed to capitalize on the overloaded cameo formula that had begun to wear thin by the start of the decade. In the process, he lost sight of what made the original document so poignant and specific. Rather than making the best sequels, Hollywood chases familiarity and thinks nostalgia is enough.

Nowadays, comedy is not as universal as it used to be, and theatrical comedy is more difficult to do than before. The audience was so eager to laugh that some people discovered something new Naked Weapon reboot is “life-affirming,” while producers believe they initially had to teach audiences how to watch the parody again. Nothing can truly cure comedy’s current ills, but if history is any guide, the fix might start with getting back to the basics — and that’s exactly what happened. Zoolander 2 should be done.