Sidewalks On The Corner

In "Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj," Taj Badalandabad picks up where Van Wilder himself left off. And now that Taj has learned the art of snagging females and partying like it's 1999, he's out to show other rejects (who Taj once was) how it's done. But was this sequel really necessary? And will it spawn other sequels?

Follow up:

Taj Mahal Badalandabad (Kal Penn reprising his role) learned the ways of the sexual/partying kind from a popular student named Vance Wilder a.k.a. Van Wilder (played by Ryan Reynolds in the first film), who was the coolest of the cool. Van Wilder was able to scoop up women with a single line, able to swoon the clothes off of chicks with the gleam of his smile....and so on. Though the first “Van Wilder” film was a National Lampoon classic (in the tradition of “Animal House”) the sequel has many faults. First of all "Van Wilder 2: The Rise of the Taj" basically serves as a vehicle for National Lampoon to expand upon the name. And unlike the teen angst films of the 80's like "Weird Science" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off,” the character development in "The Rise of Taj" was watered down. The original Van Wilder was casted with precision, with Tara Reid, Teck Holmes, Reynolds, and Penn. In other words for "The Rise of Taj," they threw in a bunch of disposable characters that couldn't live up to the characters in the first “Van Wilder” and the chemistry of the cast was not as satisfying. Penn (“Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle”) usually does a good job of pulling off his characters. He did a decent job of going from complete dorkus Taj Mahal to the new king of cool.

The plot itself had some holes in it; a lot of the things that needed to be explained just were not there. On top of that, the things that Taj got away with were all too easy; there was no set up for the big payoff like it was on "The Revenge Of The Nerds.” The whole thing developed too quickly.

Overall, "Van Wilder 2: The Rise Of Taj" is one of those types of sequels that you find on cable or direct to DVD, not quite something you want to burn gas to go to the theaters to see. Taking the film at face value, there were some funny moments, some that were even worthy of a belly laugh. However, the payoff isn't worth the price of admission. Those of you who have seen the first “Van Wilder” might want to wait for the DVD to be released to make your judgment.