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Road Trip 2: Beer Pong
(2009)
by Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)
I know that most of you have looked at the title and have probably been
able to figure out that this is not an elegant period drama based on a
sensitive, insightful anecdote from Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past."
That is a logical assumption, although I have to admit that out of the seven volumes in Proust's
masterwork, the one about beer pong was probably my personal favorite.
"Branding" is the latest trend in raunchy straight-to-vid
youthploitation comedies. The stories are the same as they have always
been, but lately they have been cobbled into the framework of an existing
franchise with a familiar name. The trend was set by American Pie 4, 5,
and 6. Then there was Van Wilder 2. Now there is Road Trip 2. Given that
the original Road Trip is far more obscure than the original American Pie,
you have to think that the people who make these things are getting kinda
desperate for brand names. What's next? Freddy Got Fingered 2? Boat Trip
2?
Like the rest of the branded straight-tos, the relationship of Road
Trip 2 to its predecessor is purely tangential.
- In the first film, Tom Green was a student giving a campus tour to
prospective students. In the process, he told them a long anecdote about
a legendary campus road trip which he was not on. The Green tour was
merely the framing story, while his anecdote was the gist of the movie,
as told in a prolonged flashback. One of the students on the road trip
was the lanky, awkward, virginal D.J. Qualls.
- In the sequel, Qualls is now a graduate student and is now giving
the tour. He tells the prospective students a long anecdote about a
legendary campus road trip which he was not on. The Qualls tour is
merely the framing story, while his anecdote is the gist of the movie,
as told in a prolonged flashback. One of the students on the road trip
is the lanky, awkward, virginal Danny Pudi.
Since in each case the real movie consists of the flashbacks rather
than the framing story, since the flashbacks in both films are simply
generic youth comedies, and since there are no common characters in the
flashbacks, Road Trip 2 has almost no connection to Road Trip.
Of course, that doesn't really matter. We don't really care if the
title is misleading, do we? The only thing we really care about is whether
the flick is any fun. After all, some of the previous examples of branded
straight-tos have been virtually unrelated to their inspirations, but have
nonetheless been fun to watch. I liked American Pie 5: The Naked Mile, for
example. That film had sympathetic characters, some good jokes, lots of
nudity, and a pretty clever plot which ended in a big, original set piece
to get to the requisite "boy gets girl back" moment. That film really had
nothing to do with American Pie, but it was still an entertaining piece of
sexy fluff. If that film represented the top shelf bottle of branded
straight-to-vid alcohol, Road Trip 2 represents the dregs at the bottom of
the branded barrel. It's barely worth mentioning at all, but here are the
key facts in bullet points:
- Generic plot.
- Astounding lack of laughs. Nothing but by-the-numbers gags, very few
of which were even worth a try.
- No characters to relate to.
- There's lots of female nudity, including some frontals, but none
from any main characters. That's a shame, because the female star,
Julianna Guill, is a major babe, and she has shown a willingness to do
screen nudity with an excellent nude scene in the recent Friday the 13th
remake. Unfortunately, all the nudity in this film comes from topless
strippers, topless bartenders, and naked "beer pong girls" having a
pillow fight.
- Although the film runs for 96 minutes, there is no nudity after the
40 minute mark, not even from extras. That means that the last hour or
so of this film consists of a PG-13 college road trip. Bor-ing!
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NUDITY REPORT
Three strippers show their breasts while providing lap dances to three of
our heroes. The older stripper with the implants is Michele Gordon, and the
other one who delivers a line (the one who gets pissed on) is Kaitlyn Reid. I
was not able to identify the third stripper, who has no lines and is
uncredited.
There is a also great deal of topless nudity from beer pong chicks and
topless bartenders, all of whom are anonymous eye candy. See points #4 and #5
to the left for additional details. |
