Hamlet 2

The faux-commercials that open Hamlet 2 are equally as funny as the fake trailers before Tropic Thunder, and that is saying a lot.

Steve Coogan, that zany Brit best known as the in-over-his-head director in Tropic Thunder plays Dana Marschz, a terrible actor and even worse drama teacher at a quaint Tucson high school. Dana has dreams of creating something more substantial than the boring, unoriginal plays he conducts with his only two actors. Trying to gain the approval of a little pip-squeak journalist, Dana comes up with his most far fetched idea yet: a sequel to Hamlet.

Doesn’t everyone die in Hamlet? No problem, he has a time machine. You want to bring Jesus into the mix? No biggie, songs like “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” help to add context.

Hamlet 2 may feel a little unbalanced at times, but the laughs, for the most part, are totally genuine. Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler and Elizabeth Shue (playing herself) are all consistent with their jokes. But it’s Coogan that steals the show. What we’re left with is a fast-moving, catchy-as-all-hell finale that will have you belting out, “rock me sexy Jesus.” Inappropriate or not, who cares, it’s all wicked fun. B