Release Date: 5/26/11
The Hangover Part II, written and directed by Todd Phillips (Old School, Road Trip) is the much anticipated sequel to the comedy smash, The Hangover. Part II takes the crew to Bangkok where they are celebrating Stu’s new marriage. After the filmmakers came up with a new location, they than pretty much made the same exact movie. Part II has no real surprises or even any new jokes as they tried to squeeze in as much of the first movie as possible. The cast is still very good, and they do as much as they can with the rushed and unoriginal script, but overall I felt as if I was robbed as I sat in my seat during the holiday weekend.
Two years after the bachelor party in Las Vegas, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis), and Doug (Justin Bartha) jet to Thailand for Stu’s wedding. Stu’s idea to celebrate is for the crew to have a pre-wedding brunch, but after the guys and the bride’s brother Teddy (Mason Lee) get together for a few beers around the campfire they somehow wake up in Bangkok with Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) and Teddy is missing. They venture on another journey through the city as they try to put together the pieces of the night before.
If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. This is game plan the filmmakers were going for, but with a movie like this where surprises are needed to keep you interested, the formula didn’t work. I was almost shocked how much was the same from the original film. Doug is out of picture, there’s a monkey instead of a baby, Stu has a face tattoo instead of a missing tooth, Ed Helms does a little diddy on a guitar instead of a piano, the list goes on and on even with some of the twists and characters. Even some of the same exact confrontations, conclusions and music selections are extremely similar. I don’t know if they were just lazy when writing the script or thought that watching the same thing over again wouldn’t take away from the entertainment value, but this film is nowhere close to the comedy masterpiece that was the first film. The stuff that was new like seeing into Alan’s bedroom or experiencing a flashback of the night before at a monastery reenacted by kids, these were the kind of things that we needed to see more of.
The cast is pretty good again though, and I was excited in the beginning that we would see what these characters were up to. Ed Helms was good again as the spaz, he had some funny moments when he would freak out and scream like a girl. His rendition of Billy Joel’s Allentown was one of the best laugh-out-loud moments. He also had another encounter with a stripper which makes for one of the raunchiest scenes. Bradley Cooper was more of a dick this time around and one of his funniest scenes came in the beginning while they were all having breakfast at IHOP. Alan is hilarious again and probably the best character if I had to choose. His best moments came with his small yet beautifully delivered lines like, “He’s a gay” or “Is this a magic show”. It was when his character tried to subtly sneak in lines from the first film that the jokes didn’t work. Ken Jeong who was funny but a little much in the first film was definitely less annoying in this one. Paul Giamatti makes an appearance as well, and while he’s usually one of my favorite actors his presence here didn’t really do anything for me. He does have one of his infamous screams though, which I love.
The Hangover Part II is a disappointment, especially when compared to the first film. It’s good for a few funny scenes from the talented cast, but it lacks the originality and clever script that the first movie boasted. If you’re looking for a hilarious summer comedy to check out, go see Bridesmaids instead while it’s still in theaters.
IMDB: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 35%
Moviewiseguys: 6.0/10