Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj (2006)

Taj Mahal Badalandabad leaves Coolidge College behind for the halls of Camford University in England, where he looks to continue his education, and teach an uptight student how to make the most out of her academic career.

Director:

Mort Nathan

Writers:

David Drew Gallagher, Brent Goldberg (characters),

Stars:

Kal Penn, Lauren Cohan, Daniel Percival

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kal Penn	...	Taj
Lauren Cohan	...	Charlotte
Daniel Percival	...	Pip
Glen Barry	...	Seamus
Anthony Cozens	...	Gethin
Steven Rathman	...	Simon
Holly Davidson	...	Sadie
Tom Davey	...	Percy
William de Coverly	...	Roger
Beth Steel	...	Penelope
Amy Steel	...	Alexandra
Jonathan Cecil	...	Provost Cunningham
Roger Hammond	...	Camford Dean
Kulvinder Ghir	...	Taj's Father
Shobu Kapoor	...	Taj's Mother

Storyline

Having graduated in the US as Van Wilder disciple, now self-confident Taj Mahal. arrives as 'don' (teaching assistant) history at England's super-prestigious Cambridge. He falls victim to the haughty, aristocratic leading fraternity's aristocratic president Pip's usual prank for 'commoners', landing in the derelict 'barn' with other 'social outcasts'. But Taj decides to band the rejects into a new fraternity, Cocks & Bulls, which under his leadership challenges Pip's in the annual all-round excellence championship.

---

Plot Keywords:

bulldog | cockney accent | breasts | sequel | bare butt | 

---

Taglines:

The Legend is Growing.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive crude sexual content, some nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 December 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$2,313,372 (USA) (1 December 2006)

Gross:

$4,259,591 (USA) (5 January 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Bauer Martinez Studios, Tapestry Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The two reporters' bylines in the newspaper articles are "Anita Hanjaab" and "Mike Oxsbig", which sound just like... Well, you can figure it out.

---

Goofs

The people watching badminton swap sides between camera shots. Specifically look for the women in the Day-Glo orange top and the one with 28 on her top, they swap sides in one volley.

---

Quotes

Taj: A surprise in the woods? Well, can you give me a second? Let me go repack my wallet real quick.

---

Connections

References Miss Nude America (1976)

---

Soundtracks

"Buckets of Beer"
Written by Anthony Duggins
Performed by The Tossers
Courtesy of Paddle on the Spot (ASCAP)
By Arrangement with Tantrum Management

User Reviews

Not a total train wreck... but probably should be avoided

You know things aren't going well when the title character doesn't make an appearance in the 'sequel'. As much as I enjoyed Kal Penn in the first Van Wilder (and Harold and Kumar), he isn't given much to work with here.

The script is awful, just brutal. I think I laughed twice throughout the whole thing. I'm sure nobody is watching this type of movie for compelling characters and riveting plot, but when almost every single joke falls completely flat... every other blemish on the script becomes glaring. There are completely nonsensical subplots thrown about that reference secondary characters that you forgot were introduced in the first place, a silly competition that never makes any sense and an embarrassing turn by the bulldog that made his infamous scene from the first "Van Wilder" look like high art. If you sat a twelve year old in a room with a typewriter and told him to write "Revenge of the Nerds in England" he couldn't do much worse than what's given here. The worst part is that the movie gets consistently less funny as it goes on. The final 15 minutes or so is cringe inducing.

The direction isn't much better. The whole thing has a look of a made for cable TV movie you'd see on a kid's network. Not only is Kal Penn inconsistent with his accent from scene to scene, sometimes it's every other line. On a few occasions, I couldn't even make out the dialog. The actors clearly didn't give a clean read but it made through to the final cut anyways. I realize this was made on the cheap, but you can tell the folks behind the camera didn't put forth much effort. Either that or they didn't have the time. Regardless, it's not pretty to watch.

The only saving grace are the actors. Despite Kal Penn not bothering to hold his accent, everybody on screen appears to be having a good time. Even if everything else is awful, I can't hate a movie where it at least appears that the actors enjoyed their work. They all seemed determined to give their best despite what they all must have known was horrendous material. Kal and the female lead (Lauren Cohan) admirably build some chemistry with little help from their lines. Holly Davidson also steals a couple of scenes as the "cockney" member of the group.

While I didn't think this was a complete disaster, you'd be wise to avoid it.