Quartile rating: 5/10 · 1 rating
It is freshman year at Coolidge College and Van Wilder is ready to party. To his dismay, all the girls have taken a vow of chastity and the dean rules the school. Van embarks on a crusade to land the campus hottie, Kaitlin, and liberate his school from sexual oppression and party dysfunction.
A direct-to-video prequel to the original Van Wilder, Freshman Year offers virtually nothing new or distinctive. The plot recycles the same rebellious-student-versus-uptight-authority formula from the original with even less wit or energy. Acting is serviceable at best, with a replacement cast that lacks the charisma of Ryan Reynolds. Cinematography is flat and TV-movie quality throughout. Novelty scores a 1 as this is essentially a formulaic retread of the original's premise, stripped of whatever charm made the first film work. The ending resolves predictably with no surprises, consistent with the by-the-numbers approach of the entire film.