Movie Review: 'The Hangover Part II'

Seen on: May 26, 2011

The players: Director: Todd Phillips, Writers: Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong, Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong

Facts of interest: Ken Jeong is also an Internal Medicine MD."

The plot: The Wolfpack is back, this time in Thailand to celebrate the wedding of Stu (Helms). Hijinks ensue which, of course, none of our boys remember the next morning…

Our thoughts: In 2009, “The Hangover” was the breakout comedy of the year, taking audiences by storm and grossing a whopping $277 million, which is by far the most ever for an adult comedy. It was a comedic near-masterpiece! Now, two years later, Stu, Phil, Alan and Doug, (The Wolfpack) are back, hoping to strike gold again! Can lightning strike twice for “The Hangover”? The answer is, unfortunately… yes.

So, It’s been a few years since the epic debauchery of Vegas, and the boys are headed to small resort in Thailand, where Stu (who has since divorced his hooker-wife from the first movie) is set to be married. After the most awkward rehearsal dinner in history, the boys, knowing Stu is dead-set against any crazy, out-of-control shenanigans, settle on the beach with only a six pack of beer…. Then they wake up in a totally trashed motel room with no recollection of what happened, missing a member of their party, while sharing their room with an exotic animal.

Sound familiar? Well, it should, because it’s the exact same storyline from the last movie! In a time when the world decries the utter dearth of imagination and originality in Hollywood (with all the sequels, remakes, re-imaging, etc.), one would think that the makers of one of the funniest and fairly original comedies in a decade would have wanted to step it up and deliver something fresh and new in the sequel, right?

No. This is one of the most blatant rip-offs of the original material in years... This isn’t a sequel as much as it’s a remake; just set in a different locale. There are no new twists, not even any new characters worth mentioning to give this movie some sense of originality. Sure, there is some “going back to the well,” but this movie pretty much nosedives right into that well and skinny-dips for almost two hours.

That said, this movie is also damn funny, even hysterical. Even the jokes that are directly recycled from the original seem fresh here. It also helps that (much in the vein of the John McClain “how can the same thing happen to the same guy” speech in "Die Hard 2") the characters do routinely reference the fact this this has all happened before. It’s especially funny when Phil has to make that call to Doug’s wife… again.

The “Hangover 2” is, undeniably, a poster child for the adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”! As much as it should be lambasted for its utter lack of originality, it is still one of the funniest movies of the year! Stu, Phil, and Allan are just three guys you wanna party with, even if it’s the same damn party every night!

Freaky quote: "I’m a stay-at-home son." - Zach Galifianakis

The final word: Sure, it’s a direct rip-off of the first movie, with hardly anything new brought to the table, but it is also extremely funny, pee-your-pants funny… A must see comedy!

On the web: http://hangoverpart2.warnerbros.com/

Article by Danny Alves