When Taj Mahal Badalandabad enters prestigious Camford University, he has two legacies to contend with. The first is from his father, a self-described "horn-doggy" during his days at the British school in the 1960s.

The other is Taj's mentor back in the states, Van Wilder, who taught him the wry smirk and hedonistic worldview that Taj hopes to exercise while earning his doctorate at Camford.

The biggest problem with "Van Wilder II: The Rise of Taj" (and there are plenty) is that Taj never really becomes his own man. In this sequel to the 2002 campus comedy, Kal Penn spends much of the running time acting like "Wilder I" star Ryan Reynolds, which no actor with half a brain should be doing.

And that's too bad, because Penn likely has half a brain. It showed up in the comparatively brilliant "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" in 2004. It surfaces here late in the film when Taj fences with a snobby Brit named Pipp (Daniel Percival). When Pipp says he's going to fight like his ancestors, Taj replies, "you mean you're going to exploit me economically?"

Ethnic tensions aside, the rest of the movie follows the campus comedy playbook. After finding out that his acceptance into a fraternity was a typographical error, he is put in charge of a group of misfits. Bookish Gethin (Anthony Cozens) looks like a transfer from Hogwarts. Cockney coquette Sadie (Holly Davidson) just wants to shag.

Referencing Van's hatred of snobs, Taj decides to create his own fraternity, the Cock and Bulls, and challenge the bluebloods' decades-long domination of the Hastings Cup, an annual Camford competition.

Events inexplicably include badminton, beer drinking, rugby, Trivial Pursuit and a dog show, which gives Taj's well-endowed (and charmingly named) bulldog Balzac something to do. The underdogs use whatever they can to win, though it usually ends up with Sadie lifting her shirt to distract the other team.

The Rise of Taj has all the trademarks of an R-rated horn-doggy comedy, including bare breasts and a certain male bodily fluid which ends up everywhere on screen lately except for where it is intended. This may be all the recommendation you need.