The rise of Taj is the fall of Van Wilder, Just not that goo
Wiseguy 945 | Cedar Rapids, IA | 12/04/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Van Wilder was one of those comedy movies that had some over the top humor that was crazy and often really childishly stupid, but that is what made it a great comedy classic. Of course, the studio went back to the well to cash in on Van Wilder's cult following by makeing Van Wilder 2, The rise of Taj. And getting Kal Penn back to revive the role of Taj gave them what they thought was a green light to bring Van Wilder back to the big screen. But, they should have went strait to DVD because now they will never sell one after a few brave souls (like me) wasted my money to see this in theaters. Just not funny, and the story line was thin, and what Happened to Taj's girl from the end of the last movie, and this is just a hint at the problems.
The story, if you haven't figured it out, is based around Taj, the secretary/understudy of Van. Well, I guess Taj graduated from Coolidge and is now going to Camford in England to get a Doctorate and work as a teaching assistant, following in his fathers footsteps. Well, He doesn't make the "fox and hounds" fraternity, so he makes due with the characters he meets at the place he was sent to "the Barn" And, All of these people are "loosers", and Taj takes them on as his new Fraternity naming themselve "[...]". Of course, in revenge of the nerd style, the [...] are taking on the Fox and Hounds (as well as other Fraternities) in a campus competition. As we soon see, the gang of loosers are actually brilliant in their own ways (and the woman of the gang is smoking hot, does not fit the nerd role anyway). Taj, as van wilder did, falls in love with the woman that is dating their arch rivals. And the ending is the same too, Taj gets the girl and the team wins. They might as well have called this movie Revenge of the Nerds, because the overall story line was the same, with just a few similarities to Van Wilder. The biggest change to this movie....ITS NOT FUNNY. Save your money, rent this one when it comes out if you must see it, or sucker a friend to rent it for you. Best if you can share this agony with someone else."
Please!! Hollywood..... stop!
Chris Kennison | Jefferson City, Mo United States | 04/30/2007
(1 out of 5 stars)
"The only thing rising with THE RISE OF TAJ is the number of people who are unwilling to pay money to see movies at the theatre, or buy DVDs.
I wasted $3.75 renting the thing.
VAN WILDER 2: THE RISE OF TAJ is a movie that has every silly cliche that every college movie has ever used. The nerds. The frat. The competition. The frat guys girl. The nerd with the super wanger. I have never in my life rolled my eyes at a film so much. The lines are corny, poorly written, predictable and poorly executed. I didn't laugh once in the whole film.
Kal Penn, who plays Taj Mahal Badalandabad has actually been pretty funny in some other movies, but in this, his comedic execution is destroyed by either a poor director or a poor script. Not to mention, for an indian guy, his indian accent is terrible. It comes and goes and in some scenes it's heavier than others.
The only redeeming quality to the entire movie is a collection of attractive women, including Lauren Cohan, who hopefully can bounce back and have a career.
The real shame is HOW THIS MOVIE EVEN GOT THE GREENLIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE!! I've seen dozens of comedies written by unknown writers who are getting walked over and forgotten because they don't have the connections, and dozens of movies like this get made every year. It's disheartening.
Ultimately, Hollywood is killing themselves by making 50 comedies like this a year, and actually only one or two are any good. Makes you not want to even bother paying to see movies anymore. They just use recycled plots and recycled scenarios and put them to lousy scripts and then stick an UNRATED on the box, hoping all the teeny-boppers will salivate. Don't. This movies junk."
Equal to the first, it is not.
Neil Upham | US Virgin Islands | 05/15/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I enjoyed this movie as a comedy, however, it did not measure up to the original Van Wilder. I think they would have had a much better response to this movie if they had not used the name Van Wilder in it. It is worth a little chuckle here and there."