The Hangover Part II

I was really optimistic going into the theatre, I didn't expect it to as great as the original, but I thought it would still be good movie. But most of the material was stuff taken from the original only tweaked, and I hate to say it but I was actually bored for a good part of the movie. Some of the jokes/scenes dragged to long, to the point where I didn't find them funny anymore. There were some good moments, but the truly outrageous/original scenes that made the original so great were too few and far between. Some of the scenes were more outrageous in the sense that there was some full frontal nudity, but I'm not someone who finds that super entertaining. Overall it felt to me like a re-hash of stuff that had already been done with some naked people thrown in, and it just wasn't enjoyable like the first movie.

Select All. Cut. Open New Document. Paste. Thesaurus. Print. I can nearly guarantee you this was the process in writing the sequel to the most successful R-rated comedy of all-time. In one of the craziest and most blatant filmmaking moments of carbon copying an earlier installment I have ever witnessed Hangover II paces, moves, and delivers in the exact same method, style and speed as the original. The musical transitions are the same, some of the set-ups are the same, some of the conflicts and revelations were eerily alike and worst of all, the entire third act felt like the original----and they are thousands of miles from the United States. Every strength in this movie is deterred by the fact that Todd Phillips and company put no effort in trying to change things up a little aside from setting.

Is the movie still funny? Yes, it is funny and there are indeed some standout moments. But, all the freshness and originality of the first Hangover is definitely not present here, and it hurts more because they could have fixed some of the setbacks of the original. This time Stu (Ed Helms) is getting married in Thailand in order to gain approval from his fiancée's father. During a night of drinking with the "Wolfpack" (Bradley Cooper, Zack Galifianakis, Justin Bartha) and the fiancée's brother, something went wrong, and the crew is many miles away in Bangkok. And of course, one of them is missing. And of course, they don't remember anything. And of course, they are mixed up in multiple situations occurring within the city. The difference between this one and their stint in Vegas is that the stakes are much higher, as the adventure in Thailand is much more grim and dark than in Sin City.

Hangover part one was hilarious, unique, and had flair of comedic originality. However, it needed a few polishes in order to become a true comedic classic. Zach as Allen is the biggest of the flaws. His characterization in the original was very uneven, too random, and just didn't deliver as much sympathy as the other characters. In the sequel, he is ruder, crueler, and an absolute pain to witness. In the original his actions are mildly justified because of his stupidity. Here however the stupid act gets old extremely fast. It doesn't help that Galifianakis doesn't have the comedic timing that superior funnymen possess. The rest of the cast throughout the movie was great, with Ed Helms and Ken Jeong being the best examples.

Todd Phillips should have known better, as he is a good director with a nice track record. I am extremely disappointed that instead of taking an approach to trying something new while still offering the same type of R-rated college humor, he chose to stick to the formula far too close. You can copy some of the jokes and get away with it, but to imitate the entire three-act structure of the original Hangover is nothing more than lazy and uninspired filmmaking. He still has a few tricks up his sleeve with a few raunchy and hilarious surprises, but far too much potential was wasted in order for me to forgive him.

Bottom Line: You will most likely have a good time watching this if you enjoyed the original. That being said, it will feel exactly like the original---except it's in Bangkok and the setting is much darker. They cranked the ante in conflict, but failed to improve anything or change anything from the 2009 comedy smash hit. Playing it safe hindered this movie, as part of Hangover's appeal was its inability to stick to a formula. Hangover II is funny, but lacks the satisfaction, zaniness, and appeal of the original. Hopefully they can spice things up for the third installment (you know it's coming out, stop lying to yourself) otherwise all I have to do is copy this review and paste it to the third chapter.

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Remember that one movie that came out in 2009 called The Hangover? Of course you do. It was only one of the most talked about films of the summer, surprising everyone as one of the funniest comedies in a long time. Two years later it was only fitting that a sequel be made so that we could relive the original Hangover fervor and kick off summer 2011 with a bang. Well, the basic rule of thumb for a sequel is that it either a) needs to be a continuation of the story from the first film or b) tell a new story with the same characters. The Hangover Part II decided to invent their own option c) which is to tell the exact same story all over again, but just changing a few details.

And that is what The Hangover Part II is. This time Stu, Alan, and Phil are in Bangkok, Thailand for Stu's wedding. The wolfpack reunites for another awesome bachelor party, this time brining along Stu's sixteen year old brother-in-law, Teddy. Stu promises only one beer and then he is calling it a night, but of course that isn't what happened or this wouldn't be The Hangover Part II. Nope. Once again a crazy night ensues and the boys wake up the next morning with absolutely no recollection of what happened the night before. They only have small clues to go off of, but they have no choice but to use these clues in order to find Teddy, who has gone missing. From here things play out much like they did in the first film with the same elements as the original. Instead of a tiger we have a monkey. Instead of a baby we have a monk. Instead of a regular Las Vegas hooker we have, well... I won't spoil that.

I, like so many others, loved The Hangover. I was happily surprised by how funny and just how well made it was for a film that looked like it would be another silly comedy movie. Of course it was that but it had something great about the raunchiness of the jokes and the cleverness of the mystery story that unfolds. The Hangover Part II doesn't quite have that and it only seems to try as hard as possible to outmatch its predecessor. It is this excessive one-upping of the first film that also drags down the films story. For one, it is just the same story all over again, but I can get past that because it worked in the first film. I won't say it wasn't annoying seeing so much of the same things happen all over again, but I'll get over it.

I was disappointed though because I loved the mystery aspect of the first film. The process of finding out where Doug was in the first film coupled with the incredibly entertaining humor was done just right. The Hangover Part II just tries so hard to go even further over-the-top that the mystery aspect here falls flat. It isn't nearly as interesting, thus the thing that made The Hangover more than just another comedy is lost in The Hangover Part II. The film does everything in its ability to be raunchier and more over-the-top than the first film, affecting all aspects. The obviousness of this effort actually ends up being distracting and it just reminds me why sequels too often suck, especially comedy sequels.

But The Hangover Part II doesn't suck. It definitely hasn't lost all of the magic that was there in the first film. Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Ed Helms obviously love these characters and you can see it come through in their performances. The hilarious trifecta are just as great in this film as they were in the first, and I never thought for a second that they were losing touch with their characters in the film's attempts to one-up the original. And honestly, this film really is funny. I laughed hysterically at plenty of moments throughout the film and there is never a dull moment. Each moment just gets raunchier and and more insane, keeping you laughing from start to finish. The comedy in this film isn't as clever as the first film, and it really sort of boils down to fart, poop, and dick jokes, but I love the characters of this film too much to not be entertained by that.

I won't say that I wasn't thoroughly entertained for the 102 minutes this film ran. I still think Zach Galifianakis is one of the funniest human beings currently on this planet and I think Todd Phillips still knows how to make a funny movie. But The Hangover Part II certainly doesn't live up to the hype and it doesn't even come close to the first film. As much as I laughed during this film I really just can't think of it as much more than just another comedy.

Whilst the plot is basically the same as it's predecessor, The Hangover Part II is still a great comedy sequel. Once again, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis are all great with really good chemistry and Ken Jeong is also great. Todd Philips' direction is fantastic and it's extremely well filmed and well paced. It's consistently really funny. The soundtrack is great and the music by Christophe Beck is good.

What made The Hangover fun and entertaining unfortunately leads to predicatability in The Hangover II. The only reason I got any enjoyment out of this movie at all was because I liked the characters in the first movie. I wish they had tried to do something fresh with the story and the characters, but it was the same old gags.

When I first saw the original Hangover, I thought the movie might become a classic comedy. But honestly after watching it a few times, it seems less funny where as many comedies you pick up on small things on multiple viewings that make the movie even funnier. With the Hangover, the element of surprise is lost the next time around and the story loses its appeal.

So taking what I just said into account, if you've watched the first movie multiple times and then have expectations that the second movie will be a fun adventure with fun surprises around the corner, you will be somewhat disappointed. The writers even wrote in another animal with the Monkey (Tiger first film) and baby with the old Monk (baby first film). The gags just didn't seem quite as funny the second time around.

There was a lot of hype leading to the release of this movie. In fact, right after the first film was released rumors that a second was on the way already surfaced. Really a disappointing film of what might have become a pretty fun movie franchise. Rating 6 of 10 and this is being nice because like I said, I got some enjoyment out of the film simply because seeing some of the same characters from the first movie was nostalgic.