House Party 2

As with most sequels, "House Party 2" is inferior to the giddy original, which was a surprise hit last year. Its failure is mainly due to playing the comedy even more broadly than the first film did and then trying to blend in serious social commentary about the black experience.

The result is an uneven mix of Spike Lee and the Three Stooges, not to mention an inordinate amount of R-rated language and sexist gags.

Rap stars Kid 'N' Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin) star once more, this time having graduated from high school. Scheming, womanizing Play is managing a music store and wants to take their rap music to a professional level by signing a recording contract. But nice-guy Kid wants to go to college, and the whole community has chipped in to help pay his tuition.

The main plot device has Play being scammed out of Kid's money by a phony record promoter (played with deadpan sensuality by supermodel Iman). To earn back enough money to keep Kid in college, Play comes up with an idea: They'll hold a house party — a "pajama jammy-jam" — and charge all the males to come in and ogle the females, who will be clad in sleepwear.

There are subplots about Kid's troubles with his girlfriend (Tisha Campbell) as her roommate (Queen Latifah) raises Campbell's feminist and black-awareness consciousness levels; the slapstick antics of security guards from the old neighborhood (the rap trio Full Force); Kid's relationship with one of his professors (Georg Stanford Brown); the zany principal (William Schallert) who repeatedly shouts, "Time waits for no man!"; and Kid's white roommate (Kamron), who seems to think he's black.

And occasionally Kid is visited by the spirit of his late father (veteran standup comic Robin Harris, seen in a clip from the first film, in which he played Kid's father; Harris died before this sequel was made) and the opening and closing moments have Kid dancing with angels in heaven (along with an unbilled Whoopi Goldberg, who repeatedly laughs maniacally).

The funniest scenes are set in the cafeteria, where Kid takes a part-time job to help with expenses. One hilarious moment has Kid being forced to wear a plastic cap on his mountain of hair.

But much of the humor is undercut by cartoon sound effects and the more serious moments don't blend well with the proceedings, however well-intentioned they may be.

What's more, the level of profanity, sexist humor and vulgar gags is way over the top.

And that's too bad. As with the first film, most of the cast here is quite charming — especially Christopher Reid as Kid. They all deserve better.

"House Party 2" is strictly for die-hard fans of Kid 'N' Play or the first "House Party."

It is rated R for profanity, vulgarity, sex, violence, partial nudity.