National Lampoon's Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj, a lengthy moniker indeed, is a futile title for two reasons: it suggests that viewers think the Van Wilder brand is different from zillions of other college comedies out there, and it leads us to believe the Van Wilder character will be seen in this movie. Both assumptions are false. 

Remember when the National Lampoon label used to mean something? Attached to such vehicles as Animal House and the Vacation series (well, at least Christmas Vacation), it was indicative of films alive with a rollicking, bawdy sense of humor. Nowadays, any two-bit comedy set on a college campus gets slapped with the National Lampoon stigma. 

Although The Rise of Taj isn't a complete washout, it continues a legacy that wasn't particularly special to begin with. Ryan Reynolds is off making better movies now, so the franchise reins have been handed over to Kal Penn, who reprises his role as shy grad student-turned-apprentice lothario Taj Badalandabad. Having learned the tricks of the trade from "party liaison" Van Wilder at Coolidge College, Taj has set his sights on spreading the good times gospel at prestigious Camford University in England.

However, not long after his arrival, Taj comes face to face with the stuffy social ladder, in the form of the Fox & Hounds fraternity, whose priggish president (Daniel Percival) sends our hero packing to a rundown edifice on the outskirts of the campus. There, Taj finds a series of various social outcasts, from a bookish nerd (Anthony Cozens) to an Irishman with anger issues (Glen Barry). But sensing their potential to make a difference on campus instead of skulking on the sidelines, Taj rallies this ragtag group and uses them to form a new fraternity (with the none-too subtle name of "Cock & Bulls") to take on the prudes of Fox & Hounds in a school-wide competition for the prestigious Hastings Cup. In the process, Taj finds that his status as a ladies' man is in danger of waning after falling in love with a fellow grad student (Lauren Cohan).

If anything, The Rise of Taj proves that life after Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle hasn’t been kind to Kal Penn. He not only got roped into appearing in two of 2005’s worst movies (Son of the Mask and A Lot Like Love), but also received the thankless task of being one of Lex Luthor's wordless henchmen in the  Superman Returns blockbuster. The Rise of Taj won't do much for Penn’s career either, which is sad considering his natural likeability and screen presence. 

With so many sequels people never asked for heading straight to DVD anyway (who begged for Like Mike 2: Streetball to be made?), it’s a wonder The Rise of Taj  made it to theaters at all. The quality of the production and cleverness of the script are on par with something that somebody’s cousin with three weeks to kill and a camera crew could whip up on the spot.

It’s not that this movie is completely and irredeemably horrible (Barely Legal and Gold Diggers are much worse excuses for comedies slapped with the National Lampoon label), but in a time when something like Little Miss Sunshine had to fight just to get made and when Indiana Jones 4 has yet to be filmed, it makes me sad to realize that someone looked at this unimaginative, done-to-death sex comedy and gave it a greenlight. 

Granted, The Rise of Taj is a tad less gross and a bit more "earnest" than its predecessor. And, as I mentioned before, Penn has a real presence, a way of having whatever fun he can with the unexciting material he has to work with. There’s even the occasionally funny line, such as when the Fox & Hounds president challenges Taj to settle a fight like his ancestors did, to which Taj replies, "You mean you’re going to exploit me economically?"

But otherwise, the story is hokey, the jokes tiresome, and the characters stock. Bearable -- but, for the most part, unnecessary -- The Rise of Taj emphasizes the same sexploitation humor that’s been done much better in films like the American Pie comedies.  

MY RATING: * 1/2 (out of ****)

(Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and rated "R" for sexual content, some nudity and language.)