The Hangover Part II


3/4

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

Rated R for Pervasive Language, Strong Sexual Content including Graphic Nudity, Drug Use, and Brief Violent Images

“The Hangover” defied all expectations.  Not only was it an unexpected success, it was the most successful R-rated comedy ever released ($467 million at the box office).  Since any film that makes back its budget gets a sequel (regardless if one is warranted), it was only a matter of time before we spent another two hours with these hard partiers.  And, while the second trip is a substantial step down from the original, there are still enough laughs to be had to give it a go.

Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms), Doug (Bartha) and Alan (Galifianakis) have all learned their lesson from their trip to Vegas.  But once again, one of the Wolfpack (Stu) is getting married.  This time, the wedding is in Bangkok.  Try as they might to avoid a repeat of Doug’s bachelor party adventure, the Wolfpack ends up in a crummy hotel without knowing anything that happened the previous night.  Oh, and the bride-to-be’s younger brother (Mason Lee) is missing.

It goes without saying that the plot formula is virtually the same.  That’s to be expected, since it leaves the film open to do just about anything.  The problem is that a lot of the coloring is the same as well.  They ended up at a club at some point, they have a run in with a nasty businessman (and it’s not Mr. Chow, although he does make an appearance), and so on.  There are still plenty of big laughs with this material, but there are times when it seems redundant.

The acting, such as it is, is still good.  Cooper is good as the straight man, Helms is funny as the high-strung dentist and Galifianakis gets the biggest laughs by having absolutely no sense of social graces.  Ken Jeong has a much larger part as the gangster Mr. Chow (whose entrance into the film is very contrived, but never mind).  Justin Bartha’s role is just as small as in the first one (shame, because I really like Bartha) but Doug is the one person who had the sense to stay (relatively) sober.

Apart from having too many elements from the original, the film is overlong.  The intro before the “morning after” is way too long.  A good comedy should only be about 90 minutes.  Shave about 10 minutes off the first act and this would be a great movie.

As in the first one, the humor ranges from rude, crude and gross, but that’s what we’d expect.  I was going to give this a tentative recommendation, but like the first one, the pictures at the end credits are howlingly funny, and more than make up for whatever deficiencies the previous 90 minutes have.

It’s worth a watch on DVD with your best buddies.

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