The Hangover Part II - Review

Hmmm... I'm beginning to see a pattern developing with the summer movie releases. First, the season started off with a bang with the awesome action blockbuster Thor. Next was the very funny Bridesmaids, the movie with a solid chance of becoming the breakout comedy of the summer. Following that was Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the incredibly disappointing and unnecessary cash-in sequel to a hit action movie. Now, with The Hangover Part II, we have the incredibly disappointing and unnecessary cash-in sequel to a hit comedy. Does this mean that the next two major releases will be awesome??? I sure hope so, because next week is X-Men First Class, and that franchise is dying for greatness again (Please Don't Suck!) But that won't be until next week... for now, let's just look at the current culprit to steal your money, The Hangover Part II.

The Hangover Part II sees the return of the crew known as The Wolf Pack. There's the straight-laced Stu (Ed Helms), the hip and cool Phil (Bradley Cooper), and the incredibly immature Alan (Zach Galifianakis.) It's two years after the infamous Vegas incident from the first movie, and they've all moved on since then. Stu is days away from getting married to the woman of his dreams, with the wedding being held in Thailand. Two days before the wedding, the group comes together in Thailand... and it all begins again. Seemingly out of nowhere, the group finds themselves in Bangkok, waking up in a run down hotel room with no memory of the night before. To make matters worse, Teddy, the brother of the bride, (who was hanging out with guys) goes missing, forcing the gang to retrace their steps and find him.

Before I start, I have to say this. Making a sequel is no easy task, especially a sequel to a comedy. Here's a little challenge for you: Name at least five sequels to a comedy that were either as good or better than their predecessors. Can you think of five? It's tough isn't it? Making a decent sequel to an action movie or a horror film, while challenging, usually stand a better chance than their comedic brethren. Comedies seldom work twice. After all, a joke isn't nearly as funny if you know the punchline. I only mention all of this because, in spite of the daunting challenge of sequel making, there was little to no effort put into The Hangover II. I've heard of recycling jokes, but this goes beyond that. I admit that I didn't totally get the messiah-like praise the first one got, but nonetheless it was a damn funny movie that definitely deserved better than a crumby half-rate sequel.

The plot is exactly the same same, the characters are (mostly) the same, the development is the same, and most of the jokes... they're the same too. What made the first Hangover work so well was the sense of unpredictability and randomness it boasted. It had all these amazing setups and left the viewer genuinely interested in how it would all unfold. Usually whenever something was revealed, it was goofy and hilarious... great comic premise! However, that premise does not work when you are able to predict those said jokes. Seriously, almost every gag or reveal was merely a slightly modified take on a gag from the first movie. This is some of the most lazy and ineffective comic screenwriting I've ever seen. It's like the writers took the script from the first and replaced Vegas with Bangkok, found a baby with found a monkey, missing a tooth with missing a finger, and... you get the idea.

The humor in the first was crude but generally goofy and fun... about as harmless as a mature comedy can get. The Hangover Part II actually caught me off guard by it's darker tone and more hateful sense of humor. When you have a fish-out-of-water story set in a foreign country, the first concern would be that it comes off as racially insensitive or prejudiced. There are a couple of scenes that might raise an eyebrow or two, including a scene concerning a group of monks in a Buddhist temple, but for the most part it's actually not too bad on the racial front. There is, however, a scene that dwells on a transsexual stripper that includes a rather unfunny joke that is taken further than it really should have been. I admit that I got a handful of chuckles from the flick, but nothing that I'll be remembering a few days from now.

I feel bad for the cast being in this sequel. Galifianakis, Cooper, and Helms are clearly a talented crew whose efforts are totally wasted. Make no mistake, the actors do a serviceable job, and try to make the most out of lame content. Oh sure, sometimes they go a little over the top, but most of those occurrences could have been fixed with some better editing. Any laugh I did get out of this piece of crap was only because of the cast. It's not their fault that the movie sucks, this is purely the fault of a weak script.

In short, The Hangover Part II pretty much sucks. The few minor laughs I did get out of the flick don't justify the 12 dollars you'll be spending on the movie ticket. If you absolutely must see it, wait to rent it on DVD.

My Score: 2 out of 5!