After seeing trailers showcasing the song “Rock Me Sexy Jesus,” there was no way that I would avoid watching Hamlet 2 the moment it hit theatres. Though exuding awkward humor found in the likes of films Napoleon Dyamite and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, there’s not much doubt that Hamlet 2 exceeded the expectations set by the former movies with a better script.
The movie’s plot follows highly unsuccessful actor-turned-drama-teacher Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan), who is falling deeper into a slump; his plays have gone downhill and his class contains two students. When Marschz learns that his already unpopular drama department is the casualty of a budget cut in his high school, Marschz’s only response in raising enough funds to keep drama alive is to create a politically incorrect musical, a sequel to Hamlet. With his motley students (all of whom were forced to sign up for the drama class), Marschz begins his journey to fame and glory—or so he hopes.
Anyone who is remotely familiar with the works of William Shakespeare knows that the Bard never wrote a sequel to the Danish tragedy. “Didn’t everybody die in Hamlet?” Marschz’s wife Brie (Catherine Keener) asks Marschz, who then explained of his plot device—in short, the use of the time machine. In the silliness that ensues, Marschz’s Hamlet 2 musical becomes the anticipated talk of the town.
In the process of writing and rehearsing the musical, various townspeople revolt and threaten Marschz’s safety. Even the high school’s principal insists that Marschz cancel the play, else the drama teacher would instantly lose his job.
Most objections to the play are mainly ingrained in the fact that playwright Marschz managed to include Hamlet, Jesus Christ, the president of the United States, Satan, and a time machine all in the same story. Controversial themes were even thrown into the mix of the play, and the song lyrics were just as scandalous as the musical itself.
Hamlet 2 screenwriter Andrew Fleming made absolutely certain that his film pokes fun at a wide variety of ethnic, religious, and union groups (Jews, Christians, Latinos, and the American Civil Liberties Union among some of them), as well as lead actress Elisabeth Shue.
Though not possessing the same type of outward wit as some other comedy movies of the summer (Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express come to mind here), Hamlet 2 holds its own, if the audience knows to laugh at the odd moments and strangely written pieces of humor.
Coogan plays a very believable and comical Marschz. From his “bad acting” to his overflowing salivation over his all-time favorite actress, Elisabeth Shue, Coogan manages to take Marschz’s character and run with it. The film also features Amy Poehler of “Saturday Night Live,” who plays Cricket Feldstein, a slightly erratic attorney who defends Marschz’s play for the sake of free speech and her love for the controversy behind Hamlet 2. Poehler is a star; even in her minimal role, she is able to bring about her comedic character and incite laughs from the audience, however absurd the humor became. A younger actor to note in the film is Joseph Juliana Sora, who starred as Octavio, the lead actor in Marschz’s musical.
Unfortunately, the film itself fell apart where the rest of the actors and actresses were concerned. Yes, most of the characters were probably intended to display overly bad acting—especially Marschz’s two veteran students Rand Posin (Skylar Astin) and Epiphany Sellars (Phoebe Strole)—but others were just too blasé and hardly showed any emotion about the scene around them. For instance, Natalie Amenula’s outburst as Yolanda was so weak and poorly done; I personally pitied Coogan’s attempt at an inspired reaction to it.
In honor of Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet 2 was divided into five acts, with the climax placed on the third act. The climax for the film, however, went hand-in-hand with the fifth act, as the film’s highlight came at the end when the musical finally took place; the songs were performed, and chaos and bedlam followed suit both inside and outside of the theatre.
Overall, the songs were catchy, the lead actors did very well and held their own, and the musical itself provided for raunchy entertainment. Too bad the other four acts didn’t follow in the same manner.
