Most teen sex comedies focus on a bunch of guys looking to lose their virginity, all of whom are usually lusting after some dream girl, whether she be the hot teacher or the sexy foreign exchange student. Wet Dreams 2 seeks to upend that formula by focusing its story on three girls who find themselves in a similar situation. The film centers on the sexual fantasies of everygirl Sung-Eun (Kang Eun-Bi) and her gal pals, the popular tomboy Bang Sue-Yeon (Jeon Hye-Bin) and the bespectacled, sexually clueless Kim Mi-Sook (Park Seul-Gi) sometime in early 1990s Korea.
     Sung-Eun's naïve fantasies about nabbing herself a Prince Charming soon take a step toward reality when a hunky new student teacher shows up at school one day. With his handsome face and toothy grin, Kang Bong-Gu (Lee Ji-Hoon) seems like the kind of guy who would have no problem bedding women. But as it turns out, Kang is desperately trying to hide a secret. It seems that whenever Kang becomes aroused, he farts, a problem that's sure to cause major embarrassment at the all girls school. However, even when she learns of Kang's condition, Sung-Eun doesn't shy away, but instead becomes even more determined to win his affections! But her quest to lose her virginity is complicated by the charms of Baek Si-Mi (Shin Joo-Ah), a sexy teen actress who attends Sung-Eun's school and has her sights set on great teacher Kang too. Of course, the question arises: will Sung-Eun sleep with teacher Kang? And more importantly, do we really want her to succeed?
     I have to admit that after some initial resistance, I found the sophomoric humor that dominates the first half of Wet Dreams 2 to be pretty amusing. The fart jokes become a bit repetitive, but even the non-gross out gags merit a smile or two. The scene in which the students shower their teacher with girly adoration is pretty cute, but becomes hilarious (at least to this Western viewer) when the ridiculously coifed Kang takes a song request and begins singing in falsetto in an intentionally hammy performance. Another surprising bit includes Sung-Eun vowing to win Kang's heart by declaring perhaps the most vile thing I've ever heard a teenage girl say. But the line is delivered with such total and complete sincerity that I couldn't help but laugh. Sure, the majority of the gags are lowbrow and scatological, but they seem to work. The laughs keep coming, so much so that you might begin to wonder if they'll be able to keep it up.
     The short answer is no. The film's second half isn't quite so funny as the storyline begins to explore Sung-Eun's jealousy and sadness over "losing" teacher Kang. The switch from gross-out comedy to teen melodrama isn't totally unexpected, but the turn is so poorly constructed, and so many things are thrown in during the film's last act, that it seems as if the filmmakers were just trying to make sure they hit all the "required" notes for a teen comedy rather than, say, just trying to construct a good conclusion.
     And while it's no surprise that the teacher isn't going to end up with the girl, the manner in which their relationship is handled is more than a little creepy. At the end, Kang actually seems to be attracted to Sung-Eun, despite the fact that she still looks like a preteen. The way in which that storyline is resolved during the film's climactic tango dance (no, really!) seems both forced and rushed. Credit can be given for not employing the standard "her real true love is the dorky male friend she's most compatible with" plotline (his rough equivalent is actually paired off with someone else), but her change of heart just seems to get shoehorned into the story, as does Baek Se-Mi's icy queen persona melting for the unlikeliest of suitors. Towards the end, you're just wondering, what happened to this movie? And what about Kang's gas problem? For those of you expecting the girls to cure him of his illness or for it to be explained as a result of some past trauma or even for Kang to meet a girl his own age and live happily ever after, well, tough luck. His storyline isn't resolved at all. Although I was expecting much more from his character, it turns out he really is a one-note fart joke.
     There are some head-scratching moments in the film as well. The film is supposedly based on actual stories the director collected from real women and modified for the film, but some of them seem so bizarre or dumb that they just doesn't seem that real (But I'm not a teenage Korean girl, so what do I know?). And let's just say the Carrie-inspired celebratory tampon toss had me a little confused.
     Strangely, a provocative subplot involving Sue-Yuen discovering the identity of her secret crush is abandoned immediately after her admirer has been revealed, and it's a shame to see that storyline go nowhere. I expected to see a resolution in the film's finale, and its inclusion there would have given the movie some much-needed edge. And even more bizarre, rather than give any resolution to the story after the climactic tango dance, the movie concludes with two middle-aged perverts fighting over who gets to flash their wares outside of the school. Perhaps this is a holdover from Wet Dreams (which I haven't seen), but the scene seems out of place and unnecessary. Even as a parody, it's a weak way to end the movie.
     I think the main problem with Wet Dreams 2 is actually one of perspective. The actress playing Sung-Eun looks so young and immature that it's impossible to root for her to achieve her goals. This isn't just a case of puppy love, but one in which she actually wants to sleep with her teacher, a goal that just seems so very, very wrong. These types of movies work best when the audience is behind the protagonist, cheering them on to "get the guy." But whereas films like American Pie had characters lusting after women who were relatively the same age, in this film, the age discrepancy seems so large as to make the prospect of Kang and Sung-Eun hooking up feel oh-so-very creeeepy. But even with these disappointments, Wet Dreams 2 is an entertaining diversion - that is, if you like fart jokes and teary-eyed waterworks. And you know who you are. (Calvin McMillin, 2005)