HAMLET 2 [R]

Hey, the Mormons wrote a sequel to the Bible, so why not a follow-up to that other greatest story ever told — William “Billy The Bard” Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”? That’s the premise behind Hamlet 2, the latest comedy from one of the writers of the “South Park” movie and “Team America: World Police,” in which a sad sack high school drama teacher named Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) takes a group of aimless students and rallies them around his wildly politically incorrect masterwork.

Most of the film is funny enough, with Coogan going all-out to keep things on track. The movie starts off “Tropic Thunder” style, with a reel of failed actor Marschz’s greatest hits — commercials for juicers and herpes medications. Coogan then goes on to create a character that is a neurotic, self-deprecating and lovable giant dork, but it is only during the film’s climax where we can look at him and say, “Man, they really pulled that off.”

The film’s finale, in which the titular play is staged for an audience, really cinches it. Until then, we only have a vague expectation as to what it will be, and rightfully, it should be a big crash-and-burn, but it is not. Believe it or not, songs like “Raped In The Face” and “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” actually work, both as stand-alones and as part of the larger, way-out production, in which Coogan steps in to play a time-traveling Jesus Christ who lands in Denmark to set things right for his fellow troubled king.

While much of the film’s overall success rests on Coogan’s shoulders, he does have a solid cast of characters backing him up. Catherine Keener (”The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) plays Marschz’s long-suffering wife Brie, who puts up with Dana’s lack of talent, success and a sperm count. Their border, Gary (David Arquette), is a hilarious, health-conscious lummox, and “Be Kind Rewind” cutie Melonie Diaz anchors Dana’s klatch of students. “SNL” staple Amy Poehler makes a late and hilarious appearance as Cricket Feldstein, a ruthless ACLU lawyer defending the right of Marschz’s play to be (rather than not to be).

But again, the often outrageous “Hamlet 2″ is largely Coogan’s show. The talented British comedian manages to entertain, push the envelope without soiling it and shine a tight spotlight on the question of arts education in our troubled schools without subjecting us to the slings and arrows of a Chaplinesque “Great Dictator” tear to make his noble point stick in our minds.•••

Robert Newton is the editor of Worcester Movies.