Has pretty much all the same negatives as the original Van Wilder, only without the boon of Ryan Reynolds. It's an interesting idea to hold on to the name of the character in your sequel/spinoff when they don't actually appear in any way. And by interesting I mean stupid and a transparent attempt to cash in on brand recognition. Seriously you could play this exact same movie only call it "England School Dumb Time" and get 100% the same story across. The script calls/builds upon the original in exactly zero ways. Now, that might be a big deal if the original Van Wilder had some sort of actual value, but seeing as it doesn't, Rise of Taj is just another bad, watchable US comedy like so many others, only this one has the rare inclusion of a non-white lead. Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.