Spud 2: The Madness Continues is the much anticipated follow-up to Spud, based on the popular series of boarding school misadventures by John Van De Ruit. Another year has passed in the life of young John “Spud” Milton. He may have moved up the pecking order and landed a regular spot on the Crazy Eight, but the girl trouble, boarding house shenanigans and parental woes have only just begun.

The first film introduced us to boarding school life, the South Africa of 1990, an array of colourful characters and the growing pains of our hero, “Spud”. Spud 2: The Madness Continues… does exactly what its title suggests and picks up where Spud left off with most of the original cast reprising their roles. Young John Milton is our narrator, taking us through the paces of the life of a “Spud” with George Orwell’s 1984 as the undercurrent.

Troye Sivan is the title star and delivers a more subdued and angst-filled performance. He maintains the same mix of vulnerable teenage curiosity and longing for love and acceptance, with most of the exposition done by way of voice-over. John Cleese returns as the “Guv”, a popular English teacher and voice for the students, who delivers a stalwart performance with some of the film’s funniest lines. His mere star presence is enough to elevate the overall tone of the production.

Jeremy Crutchley and Jason Cope make up a two-man team as the “Glock” and “Sparerib”, representing the rest of the staff. Their dynamic as principal and housemaster echoes Blackadder Goes Forth’s General Melchett and Captain Darling. When “Sparerib” isn’t the brunt of the pranks, he’s out to exact revenge on hooligans, using the prefects as an internal police force.

Aaron McIlroy and Julie Summers are Spud’s embarrassing parents. They keep us up-to-speed with the domestic politics of the time and their dilapidated car almost deserves an acting credit of it’s own. The two make a wonderful team with Summers playing comic foil to McIlroy’s hilarious expressions, physical comedy and clownish demeanor. You get the impression that Donovan Marsh had to reel McIlroy in a bit to ground his energy.

“Down to seven, but still crazy.”

The Crazy Eight return in full force with Sven Ruygrok and Josh Goddard leading the charge as “Rambo” and “Mad Dog”. Much of Spud 2 revolves around their wanting to literally leave their mark on the school as they plot to get rid of “Sparerib” and go one up on the prefects. The rest of the gang includes: Blessing Yaba as “Fatty”, Tom Burne as “Rain Man”, Bryon Langley as Simon and Travis Hornsby as “Boggo”.

Then, it wouldn’t be a Spud movie without the beautiful girls. Genna Blair returns as an indecisive “Mermaid”, Charlbi Dean Kriek as a sultry Amanda with an aptly titled cameo from Tanit Phoenix as Eve. Spud’s love life gets complicated when “Mermaid” drops him for a good-looking surfer guy, played by Chris Fisher, while Amanda gets up close and personal with Spud against one of the prefect’s wishes.

Spud 2: The Madness Continues has a burgeoning cast of crazy, larger-than-life characters. The joy is in reliving the school days in all the mischief, heartache, tragedy and fun. When Donovan Marsh isn’t delivering a fun Stand By Me style hot dog eating contest, he’s delving into old school traditions, teenage angst and anti-authoritarian schoolboy shenanigans.

The material ranges from kinky to rebellious, yet there’s a naive tone underlying all the comedy and drama, with a likable tour guide. Spud’s journey has the triumphs and tragedies every step of the way, is lightly amusing, entertaining and for the most part, fun-loving. The storytelling and character intersections do most of the work, keeping things upbeat as we’re given a slice-of-school-life.

The Spud sequel has carried over most of the film-makers from the first film with cinematographer Lance Gewer, production designer Tom Gubb and editor Megan Gill on-board. This gives the look and feel of the film a consistency, but for logistical reasons, Spud 2 was shot at SACS in Cape Town instead of on-location at Michaelhouse in the Kwazulu-Natal Midlands.

Donovan Marsh does a great job of wielding such a large cast, giving each character their own space, while keeping Troye Sivan as the figurehead. Fans of the Spud series will love to see their favourite characters come to life, but something seems to be missing amid all the pubescent peril… something beyond the low budget opening credits and lack of ’91 nostalgia.

The problem is that there’s not enough depth of character. Spud does a lot of fun fly-on-the-wall storytelling, but by trying to accommodate such a sprawling cast with such a light tone, much of the heart and soul is lost in the process. While it’s an entertaining romp, it doesn’t quite connect with the audience as much as Spud did with the “Guv” in the first installation, making for a fun-loving yet fleeting misadventure.

The bottom line: Fun

Release date: 21 June, 2013
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