ZOOLANDER 2 7 out of 10 Directed by Ben Stiller; Written by Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller, Nicholas Stoller and John Hamburg; Starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Penelope Cruz and Will Ferrell; Running time 82 minutes; Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, a scene of exaggerated violence, and brief strong language; In wide release February 12, 2016.

Despite having the worst release date for a comedy of all time (less than a week after the September 11 attacks), the original “Zoolander” has gathered a cult following and found fans among all age groups and demographics. Goofy, fun and enjoyably poking fun at pop culture and the fashion industry, the original was lightning in a bottle and it was doubtful that a sequel could capture that same magic. Thankfully, it is overall enjoyable even if a lot of the jokes fall flat and it loses its way halfway through.

Fifteen years have passed for Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) as well, and time has not been kind to them. Due to Derek’s building the “The Derek Zoolander School for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Want to Do Other Stuff Good Too” out of the same materials as the model – literally paper mache and glue – the whole thing collapsed, killing his wife and “horrendously” scarring Hansel in the process. His young child was taken away by protective services and Derek retired from fashion to live as a hermit in the wilderness. Billy Zane shows up to deliver his latest Netflix movie (because why not?) and informs Derek that he has been invited to headline a runway show by the biggest name in fashion, Alexanya Atoz (a wonderfully over-the-top Kristen Wiig). Derek eventually agrees in the hope to be reunited with his estranged son and is soon joined by Hansel who was also invited to do the show as well. All is not as it seems as they learn from Valentina (Penelope Cruz) an officer in INTERPOL’s Fashion Police who is investigating the murders of the world’s biggest pop stars. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Hansel and Derek must once again put their brain cell together and stop the nefarious schemes of an evil fashion cabal hell-bent on finding the secret of eternal youth.

Going in, I wondered what the need was for a sequel and what new story was so important or funny that it needed telling. And to be honest, there really isn’t much new here. Much of the plot is just a rehash of the first movie, albeit with new characters and a few twists thrown in for good measure. Of course, strong storytelling isn’t the reason we are here. We want laughs and we want them coming fast and heavy, and thankfully most of the movie delivers on that. In fact, the first half is laugh-out-loud funny throughout.

At first, the film delivers a constant barrage of jokes and sight gags that immediately sets the mood for the rest of the story. Stiller and Wilson are the same naïve, men-children they were in the first movie, and that helps fuel a good deal of the comedy. Not to be outdone, Kristen Wiig is also fantastic as she chews through and literally floats on the scenery. But best of all are the countless celebrity cameos that never cease to surprise and bring a laugh. Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiefer Sutherland, especially, are the best moments in the film even if their appearances are way too brief.

Halfway through, however, the movie runs out of steam and begins to drag on as it slowly reaches its climax. The twist is seen coming a mile away, and the humor just bogs down and doesn’t have the same punch as it did for the first 45 minutes. While it picks up again at the end, it still felt like something was missing from the whole experience that the first movie didn’t suffer from.

Needless to say, fans will find plenty to love, and anyone looking for a fluff comedy will have a good time as well. It’s not nearly as smart/dumb as the original, but there’s enough fun stuff to keep everyone entertained and also talking about some key scenes after it lets out. “Zoolander 2” might not be able to pull off “Magnum”, but it gives a great “Blue Steel.”

While We’re Young (7 out of 10)  – Written and Directed by Noah Baumbach; Starring Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Grodin and Adam Horovitz; Rated R for language, in limited release April 10, 2015.

A few weeks ago I was lamenting the lack of good romantic comedies featuring middle-aged couples who still are very much in love, but where that love has matured beyond the initial relationship. This is that movie.

Enter Ben Stiller, a 40-something documentary filmmaker and college film professor. He is married to Naomi Watts, herself accomplished as a producer, most o which has been for her father, Charles Grodin, himself a legendary filmmaker probably on the level of Errol Morris or Werner Herzog. All of their friends are in that stage of their life where they’re having kids, meanwhile Stiller and Watts find themselves in a rut, creatively and personally.

Stiller is laboring over his plodding, boring, 13 hour magnum opus that he has been working on for nearly a decade. And while they want children, it has been hard for them to conceive. They, to somewhat comic effect, talk about how this gives them the freedom to do whatever they want — like fly to Paris immediately. But, because last minute airline tickets are so expensive, and they’d have to cancel certain appointments and. . . “But it’s nice to know we have the freedom. If we want to.” That’s their life.

Enter Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfriend, who are auditing Stiller’s class. They are classic, almost cliched Brooklyn hipster Millenials. They strike up an unlikely friendship as Driver has an idea for a documentary and wants to pick Stiller’s and Watt’s brains.

And so begins a comical clash of cultures as Stiller and Watts try to live in Seyfried’s and Driver’s world. The film is great at skewering both generations and there are a lot of laughs as the older couple tries to recapture some lost youth. 

But we eventually realize that not all is well in hipsterland. Indeed, watching this film with an eye seeing Adam Driver as playing the villain in the upcoming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” makes for an interesting eventual character reveal about what he’s really up to. I had equal amounts of fun thinking back to Ben Stiller’s seminal Gen X commentary as director and actor in “Reality Bites,”  especially his performance as the smarmy reality show producer and how he interacted with the rest of his cast. 

And while the twist with Driver’s character isn’t necessarily sinister, it’s not nice. And it helps reveal a greater truth about the art of film, especially documentary filmmaking. In short, this is a great film for anyone who works in any sort of creative endeavor, especially if they think of themselves as a “truth teller” in some sort of non-fiction medium.

Yes, it’s partially a self-indulgent meta-film by a filmmaker partially about filmmaking (oh good, we never have those!), but in this case, Noah Baumbach is able to make it a lot of fun and has a lot to say about getting older, growing up, and life in general. 

This is a lovely, fun film and you should consider it a welcome alternative to, say, cars flying from building to building. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But if you prefer something more funny with a nice, somewhat serious undertone, “While We’re Young” is the perfect date night film for the 40-something couple you might know.

7 out of 10

This time of year, googleplexes all around the country are all crammed with audiences taking in the latest filmic fare from Hollywood. This year’s offerings include some existing blockbusters, such as Frozen, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, as well as a half-dozen or so new releases that have been timed for holiday release.

That latter group includes a pair of comedies, one of them a remake of a beloved movie (and book) classic and the other a geriatric boxing tale, a cheeky crime story based on real-life events, an action-fantasy and the latest feature from one of modern cinema’s masters. But which of them are worth your hard-earned dollars? Big Shiny Robot’s Jerk-Bot, aka Jeff Michael Vice, offers these capsule reviews of some of the more high-profile new releases:

47 RONIN (2 out of 10)  Starring Keanu Reeves, Tadanobu Asano and Rinko Kikuchi; rated PG-13 (intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, and thematic elements); in general release, playing in either 2D or 3D; running time: 119 minutes.

A little humor can go a long ways toward saving a so-so movie. Now, a bad movie? That’s quite another thing entirely.

Take 47 Ronin, a would-be “fantasy epic” that turns the revered Japanese legends (allegedly based on real events) into a swords-and-sorcery tale. Keanu Reeves stars as a former slave who joins a group of master less warriors trying to avenge the ignominious death of their former master.

Reeves and his co-stars (including Thor: The Dark World’s Tadanobu Asano) play this surprisingly chintzy-looking nonsense entirely too straight-faced, and the story completely misses the whole point of the legends. And the supposed “special digital effects” only look more glaringly awful and unconvincing when seen in the 3D format. If you thought the trailers for the film looked bad, you haven’t seen nothing yet. Ugh.

GRUDGE MATCH (4 out of 10) Starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Alan Arkin, Kevin Hart and Kim Basinger; rated PG-13 (sports action violence, sexual content and language); in general release; running time: 113 minutes.

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (5 out of 10) Co-written and directed by Ben Stiller; starring Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott and Sean Penn; rated PG (some crude comments, language and action violence); in general release; running time: 114 minutes.

The perfect time for Grudge Match to be made and released would have been two or three decades ago, when Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro were at least closer to their respective physical prime and when it would have been at least somewhat believable and realistic to put the Raging Bull (De Niro) in the ring with the Italian Stallion (Stallone).

Stallone and De Niro play longtime pugilistic rivals whose last bout ended in a hotly debated draw, and who are coaxed into a decades-later, “deciding” rematch by an enterprising sports promoter (Kevin Hart) who uses their large egos against them.

Director Peter Segal (50 First Dates, Tommy Boy) is out of his comfort zone here. He clearly has no idea how to stage a big-screen boxing match, and, worse, he’s working with a script from two credited screenwriters who think that the idea of hilarity is Stallone spoofing moments from his Rocky moments or De Niro serving as the butt elderly bodily function humor and other off-color references that would have been rejected for inclusion in his recent Last Vegas fiasco.

As for the visually beautifully but ultimately disappointing Walter Mitty “re-imagining,” its worst defect is also its strongest asset: Ben Stiller.

He directed and stars as the title character, a magazine photographic archivist who escapes from his drab life through fantasies — including fantasizing about romancing a co-worker (Kristen Wiig) he’s too shy to approach in real life.

Behind the camera, Stiller and his camera crews capture beautiful, picture-postcard imagery that gives both the “real” and “fantasy” sequences a dreamy feel. Unfortunately, Stiller is no Jim Carrey, the actor he’s clearly emulating here. He lacks Carrey’s range, and he’s really out of his element in more dramatic moments. Also, the film wastes time with go-nowhere subplots and characters that further obscure the points the story is trying to make.

AMERICAN HUSTLE (5 out of 10) Co-written and directed by David O. Russell; starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence; rated R (pervasive language, some sexual content and brief violence); in general release; running time: 138 minutes.

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (6.5 out of 10) Co-written and directed by Martin Scorsese; starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Matthew McConaghey; rated R (sequences of strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language throughout, and for some violence); in general release; running time: 179 minutes.

Director David O’Russell is at his best when he’s trying to be himself, not imitate someone else. With his latest, he tries so hard to the look and feel of a Martin Scorsese movie that he gets lost in those details and forgets how to tell a story.

Luckily, he has a good story to tell here: Helped out by most of an all-star cast from his most recent successes (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook), Russell reminds us about the ABSCAM scandals of ‘70s and ‘80s, as seen through the eyes of con artists (Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence), politicians (Jeremy Renner) and the FBI (Bradley Cooper).

The material does offer Lawrence, Renner and Adams some opportunities to shine. The real sore thumb here is a paunchy Bale, who wears unconvincing balding hair appliances and offers up a truly bad (and hammy) Robert De Niro impression. Then there’s the film’s nearly disastrous final quarter or so, which proves to be this Hustle’s undoing.

As for Scorsese, at this point in his career, no one can tell him no, which is both a good and bad thing. His latest is a bloated, overlong, but still enjoyable crime comedy-drama that earns good will from the earnest performances of its talented cast.

Scorsese re-teams with Leonardo DiCaprio, who stars as Jordan Belfort, a morally sketchy New York stockbroker involved in one of the biggest stock fraud cases from the 1990s. DiCaprio’s clearly having a great time with this story and this character, and that enthusiasm transfers over to the top-notch supporting cast (which includes Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Margot Robbie and Mob City’s Jon Bernthal).

However, co-star Jonah Hill looks and sound ridiculous with oversized dental appliances that alter his voice and speech patterns, and some of the film’s excesses (sexual and drug wise) are a bit excessive. Some judicious pruning would have turned this three-hour exercise in indulgences into a tighter, more cohesive and coherent film. Flaws aside, it’s still worth seeing if you’re a Scorsese and/or cinema nut.

Jeff Michael Vice, aka Jerk-bot, can be heard reviewing films, television programs, comics, books, music and other things as part of The Geek Show Podcast (www.thegeekshowpodcast.com), as well as be seen reviewing films as part of Xfinity’s Big Movie Mouth-Off (www.facebook.com/BigMovieMouthOff).