National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj
DVD Reviews | Mar 25th, 2007

Starring Kal Penn, Holly Davidson, Lauren Cohan, Daniel Percival, Glen Barry, Anthony Cozens
Written By: David Drew Gallagher
Directed By: Mort Nathan
Studio: MGM/ UA
Buy on Amazon.com link
Was a sequel to Van Wilder really necessary? Harold and Kumar I can see but Van Wilder? Am I out of the loop that much and think that movie is a ripoff of every other college movie out there? Although, I still haven’t seen the first Van Wilder movie because I just can’t stand Ryan Reynolds. I think he tries to act like Jim Carrey and a bunch of other actors. Now it’s Kal Penn’s turn for a starring role, and while I think he has potential to star in comedies, I just think he would have been better suited for a new character instead of a straight to video-type sequel.
Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj is about Taj Mahal Badalandabad leaving Coolidge College to study aboard at the pretentious, I mean prestigious Camford University over in England. He wants to continue his studying, as well as continue to student teach. He brings the knowledge he learned from his mentor, who doesn’t appear in this sequel. He’s confident now and goes right after the elite members of the top fraternity that denied him into their fraternity. With the help of some new friends, he gets revenge on the biggest dick on campus and also tries to steal his girlfriend away from him. So that premise pretty much sounds like every teen & college movie in the last 30 years.
You like goofy, raunchy college comedies? Than you’ll probably like this movie. While I like those type of movies too, I just couldn’t really care about anything that was happening in the movie. The only thing I was really paying close attention to was Holly Davidson’s giant perfect breasts. Who knows if they are real and honestly, I don’t care. Wow were those things the highlight of the movie for me. Judging how everyone else was acting in the film about them, i’m not the only one who feels strongly about them. Sadly, you find out in the behind the scenes featurette that they used a boob double. But yeah, besides breasts, I thought the movie was okay. I was kind of falling asleep towards the end of the film but I was tired and needed a nap. Kal Penn was pretty funny in his role but I think he would just be funnier if he talked normal like he did in Harold and Kumar. A lot of the jokes and stuff done in this movie seems like it has been done before in some form. The film had its moments, just could have been better.
The DVD comes with a bunch of extras like deleted scenes, behind the scenes featurette, music videos, gag reel and more. The behind the scenes featurette everyone just talks about the movie, their characters, and show footage from on the set. You’re usually type of behind the scenes featurette. The gag reel was pretty funny, and the deleted scenes weren’t bad. I didn’t feel like watching anything else, especially the music videos since I thought most of the music wasn’t that great except the Tossers and The Ordinary Boys.
If you liked the first Van Wilder, you MIGHT like this one. I can probably hear what many of you will be saying, “it’s just not the same with Ryan Reynolds in the film.” As much as I hate the guy, I’d probably agree with you.
Features:
“Get Steady” Music Video Featuring Jonny Lives!
“Heads Will Roll” Music Video Featuring Marion Raven
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel
Union Jack-Offs: The Making Of the Rise Of Taj Featurette
On Set In Romania: Kal Penn Tours “The Barn” Featurette
Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital Surround
Video:
Widescreen 1.85:1 Color
Subtitles:
English, Spanish
Favorite Scenes: anything with Holly Davidson
Rating: NR
Running Time: 98 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: