The Hangover: Part II Review
By. Cameron Hallinan
Back in 2009, The Hangover was one movie that caught me completely by surprise. It was hilarious and definitely among one of the funnier films I had seen in a long while. I was very excited when I heard they would be making a sequel but my first question was what the heck was it going to be about? I mean it’s not like they'd just repeat the same formula again, right? Well, I was quite disappointed when I came to this conclusion: same shit, different movie. The Hangover Part II is literally an exact clone of the original with all the familiar characters and gags minus the comedy and charm. The only real story difference is that this time they are partying in Bangkok, China, not Las Vegas. Two years after the events of the first movie, Stu (Ed Helms) is about get married in Thailand and his friends Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) are once again along for the ride. The morning after the rehearsal dinner, Phil, Stu, and Alan find themselves in the same situation but this time they lost Stu’s soon to be brother in law Teddy (Mason Lee). Gee, you think they could have taken more than nine seconds to come up with the story. Nearly all of the jokes just rely on references to the first film like: “Hey, remember that from the last movie? That was real funny, huh?” Only this time the humor feels very mean spiritied and juvenile and if there's anything worse than bad comedy, it's hateful bad comedy. Okay, there are some different circumstances this time around such as Alan getting his head shaved and Stu having a Mike Tyson tattoo around his eye but overall there's nothing but more of the same. The cast of characters is a return of all the regulars including Leslie Chow who is way over utilized this time around and develops into a irritating cultural stereotype. Everybody else is okay I suppose but it becomes frustrating fast when all of them keep repeating the same mistakes. What made the first movie so memorable was the element of surprise and the fact that you were never quite sure what was coming next. That strength is totally compromised if all you're doing is repeating the stuff you did before. It's a shame because there is a lot of potential with these characters and all it takes is a little stretch of the imagination to make them shine. It's simply tedious watching a three act movie on auto pilot with no surprises or creativity along the way. If you are looking for a few chuckles, I’m guess its sufficient in giving you a good hour and a half to waste at the movies but if you're anything like me, you should expect a lot more. Personally, I have no intention of ever returning to this one and even I did, it would be to the much funnier version which incidentially happens to be the first movie. I just don't see the novelty of watching a play-by-play rehash that is really nothing more than a half assed clip show. The Hangover Part II is not recommended.
Grade: D+
By. Cameron Hallinan
Back in 2009, The Hangover was one movie that caught me completely by surprise. It was hilarious and definitely among one of the funnier films I had seen in a long while. I was very excited when I heard they would be making a sequel but my first question was what the heck was it going to be about? I mean it’s not like they'd just repeat the same formula again, right? Well, I was quite disappointed when I came to this conclusion: same shit, different movie. The Hangover Part II is literally an exact clone of the original with all the familiar characters and gags minus the comedy and charm. The only real story difference is that this time they are partying in Bangkok, China, not Las Vegas. Two years after the events of the first movie, Stu (Ed Helms) is about get married in Thailand and his friends Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) are once again along for the ride. The morning after the rehearsal dinner, Phil, Stu, and Alan find themselves in the same situation but this time they lost Stu’s soon to be brother in law Teddy (Mason Lee). Gee, you think they could have taken more than nine seconds to come up with the story. Nearly all of the jokes just rely on references to the first film like: “Hey, remember that from the last movie? That was real funny, huh?” Only this time the humor feels very mean spiritied and juvenile and if there's anything worse than bad comedy, it's hateful bad comedy. Okay, there are some different circumstances this time around such as Alan getting his head shaved and Stu having a Mike Tyson tattoo around his eye but overall there's nothing but more of the same. The cast of characters is a return of all the regulars including Leslie Chow who is way over utilized this time around and develops into a irritating cultural stereotype. Everybody else is okay I suppose but it becomes frustrating fast when all of them keep repeating the same mistakes. What made the first movie so memorable was the element of surprise and the fact that you were never quite sure what was coming next. That strength is totally compromised if all you're doing is repeating the stuff you did before. It's a shame because there is a lot of potential with these characters and all it takes is a little stretch of the imagination to make them shine. It's simply tedious watching a three act movie on auto pilot with no surprises or creativity along the way. If you are looking for a few chuckles, I’m guess its sufficient in giving you a good hour and a half to waste at the movies but if you're anything like me, you should expect a lot more. Personally, I have no intention of ever returning to this one and even I did, it would be to the much funnier version which incidentially happens to be the first movie. I just don't see the novelty of watching a play-by-play rehash that is really nothing more than a half assed clip show. The Hangover Part II is not recommended.
Grade: D+