Short Takes:'Kaboom,''IP Man 2,''When We Leave,''Biutiful,''Strongman'

KABOOM ***
Horror comedy about imperiled students (1:26). Not rated: Sex, nudity, drugs, violence. At IFC Center.

The latest from prankish provocateur Gregg Araki ("Mysterious Skin") looks admittedly shoddy compared with his best work. But if you arrive without any expectations for the film, you might actually have a good time.

Araki's cheerfully unhinged comic thriller follows the increasingly bizarre adventures of college students Smith (Thomas Dekker) and Stella (Haley Bennett). In between various polysexual affairs, they somehow get entangled in a murderous cult.

The good-natured cast helps distract from a barely sketched plot and outrageously cheap production values. Plus, the director's wicked sense of humor is still intact, even if this goofball lark feels more like the debut of a perpetually stoned film-school grad.By Elizabeth Weitzman

IP MAN 2 ***
Martial arts sequel about the famed grandmaster (1:48). R: Violence. In Cantonese with subtitles. At Village East.

The first"Ip Man,"in 2008, connected its impressive action scenes with a convoluted, overreaching plot. The sequel improves on both elements, with a simpler story and ever-more-complex martial arts sequences.

Once again, Donnie Yen plays the famed grandmaster who eventually taught Bruce Lee. We're still in his earlier years here, with Ip Man opening a school in colonized Hong Kong. To succeed, he must battle both his competition (including Sammo Hung) and the occupying British"devils."Hung's choreography is consistently inventive, as each fight quickly builds on the last. With action this strong, the script just needs to be serviceable— and that's exactly what it is.E.W.

WHEN WE LEAVE ***
A Muslim wife faces terrible choices (1:59). Not rated: Violence. In German and Turkish with subtitles. At the Angelika.

Before making her feature debut, writer/director Feo Aladag worked with Amnesty International's Stop Violence Against Women campaign. Which explains why this tragic drama is both palpably passionate and rigidly instructive. Our ill-fated heroine is Umay (Sibel Kekilli), a young Muslim mother who grabs her son and flees her violent marriage in Istanbul. She returns home to Germany, but is shocked when her conservative family furiously condemns her.

Kekilli sensitively portrays Umay's conflicted despair, and the relationship with her son is beautifully rendered. But Aladag is so intent on enlightening us that she overplays key scenes, demanding emotions rather than allowing us to discover them for ourselves.E.W.

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