Movies 149: The Hangover Part II

Director: Todd Phillips 

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha and Ken Jeong. 

Run Time: 102 minutes. 

Rated: R

Plot: Sequel to the first film (The Hangover), the wolf pack returns for another adventure this time for Stu's wedding. Stu originally hopes for a subtle bachelor party but things go wrong when they wake up in Bangkok with no memory of the night before and Stu's fiancé's brother missing and only 48 hours to find him.

Summer blockbuster season has officially started and what better way to start the season than the sequel to the 2009 comedy hit The Hangover. The problem? The Hangover Part II hasn't been receiving rave reviews, let alone good ones. While The Hangover Part II pales in comparison to The Hangover, by no means is it a movie to skip out on because where the first film lacks, the second excels. 

The Hangover Part II starts off feeling a little trite when the first twenty minutes is almost an exact remake of the first film, with the exception with some more background to the story. There are some great parts sprinkled in between the opening scenes, making fans happy to have the wolf pack back again. It doesn't take long though for the trouble to start up again when Phil (Cooper) wakes up in a mysterious apartment in Bangkok, only to see Alan (Galifianakis) with a freshly shaven head and Stu (Helms) with a Mike Tyson tattoo blazed on the side of his face. Things get worse though, no one remembers what happens and Teddy (Mason Lee), Stu's future teenage brother-in-law is missing. That's when the fun begins, for the next hour is dedicated to finding Teddy. This journey includes finding kidnapped monks and a smoking drug dealing monkey, and going into a transgender strip club. 

The fun doesn't stop there, there are also fun guest appearances from Mike Tyson, Paul Giamatti, and Ken Jeong reprising his role as asian gangster Leslie Chow. As for the performances as a whole, they were solid. Ed Helms surprisingly took the head reign in this film and carried it out well. Zach Galifianakis reprised his role as a comedy king while Bradley Cooper brought up his humor too. Those who were looking forward to Justin Bartha having a bigger role will be sorely disappointed to see his role is not much bigger than it was in the first film. 

So why did this film get bad reviews? It was mainly due to being unable to top The Hangover and the fact that at some points it was just too blatantly ripping off the first film. Don't let that stop you from seeing it though because if you loved the first Hangover then you will definitely love the second. 

Overall Rating: 7/10