The Hangover Part II

The Hangover Part II (2011)

35% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 207 reviews)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: Todd Phillips

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifiankis, Ken Jeong

From: Warner Brothers

So, I finally went out and saw this movie despite knowing that it was as much of a carbon copy of the first as Home Alone 2 is to the first Home Alone. I enjoyed the first, so yesterday at the local Cineplex I watched this film. And…

But, first I should mention that with the first Hangover, it was a movie I ended up liking, despite it being hit or miss at times and some of the things that Alan (Zach G.) says and does is more strange than funny. It’s more of the same here. I mean, this won’t be a long review.

Just like in the first movie, you have the main characters together to celebrate a bachelor party-this time, in Bangkok-a blackout happens, they have to try and find someone, they meet wacky characters, and a misunderstanding happens. Honestly, that all happens for a second time, and none of that should be a spoiler if you’ve seen the trailers and commercials. It’s just that the setting is different and you get to see some stereotypes that you may think of when it comes to the topic of Thailand.

Sure, it’s ridiculous that all the same things happen for a second time (even to the point that Mr. Chow (Jeong) shows up again; he’s not the only bit player from the original to also appear here; I’m not counting either one actor playing a character in the first and playing a different character this time) and again, some the things that Alan says and does can be off-putting. Even then, I laughed at the situation happening again along with the new gags they came up with. The cute little monkey you get to see was also amusing. One thing I do have to mention is that the film is more mean-spirited and dark in comparison. And not just because the setting is more mysterious and odd to Westerners than Las Vegas is. As someone I know online said, it’s like Die Hard 2 compared to Die Hard.

Because I knew how carbon-copy it was, I wasn’t too upset with the concept when I watched it and the movie was actually funny. Although, you know they’ll do a third one and they better not go to the same well again, lest they find that it dried up…

They can keep on doing the gimmick of funny photos during the end credits, though.

I also have to mention that I was amused early on to get a peek into Alan's room and seeing that he's a wrestling fan (among other things), with action figures all over and posters of 80's WWF wrestlers, including Hillbilly Jim and... Macho Man Randy Savage. That's melancholy after what happened a few weeks ago.

I'll be back on Friday night with a new review.