The Hangover Part II features the line “It happened again”. This really ought to tell you everything you need to know. The film is written like above average fan fiction: A complete and amateurish retread of the previous film, never bothering to expand upon what’s already been established.
If you know the plot of the first Hangover, then you essentially know the plot of the second. Stu (Ed Helms), still mentally recovering from the events of the first film, is getting married in Thailand. After being disrespected by his future father-in-law, Stu is goaded into joining Phil (Bradley Cooper), Alan (Zach Galifinakis) Teddy (Mason Lee), his bride’s genius younger brother, in a small bachelor party. Their conservative celebration, as one might expect, goes horrifically awry. The intrepid group awakens the next morning to find themselves in a Thai flophouse with a severed finger and no memory of the night before. Worse yet, the brilliant little brother of the bride to be is nowhere to be found. Comedy ensues.
When making a movie like The Hangover Part II, one in which the protagonists might face losing loved ones, financial ruin and all-out nervous breakdowns, the characters needn’t be likeable exactly but the audience really ought to want to see them succeed. Or at least survive. It is in this respect that the film fails totally. Maybe it’s a case of characters wearing thin but, after a point, I really wanted to see Doug, Phil and Alan face some sort of punishment for the things they’d done. Businesses are destroyed, commitments are violated and people are disfigured because of their actions but the Wolfpack is no longer relatable, interesting or even funny enough to want to see make it. There is simply no reason to care for them any longer. With nothing new to do, these characters have grown stale.
The team of alcoholics is joined again by international criminal Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), this time with a much larger role. Less, in this case, is much more. Though amusing as a bit part in the first film, Jeong quickly wears out his welcome. His shrill delivery and legitimately gruesome nudity are no longer funny. Jeong is not an untalented performer and is frequently hilarious on NBC’s Community but nothing can be done to overcome such poor writing and flat direction. The same could be said for the rest of the cast. There isn’t an incompetent actor in the bunch but none can undo the blandness set for them and all become furiously irritating. Hangover Part II feels like the work of a distracted director. Todd Philips, who began his career as a documentarian, seems anxious for a return to his roots. Loving attention is paid to gorgeous cityscapes and inventive montages but this same enthusiasm is nowhere to be found in the rest of the film. The opening title sequence is a gorgeously grimy tour through Bangkok that nicely sets the tone for a brilliantly perverse adventure but one is never delivered.
As you’d probably suppose, the film ends “happily”. The Wolfpack recovers Teddy, minus a finger, and manage to make it to the wedding with only moments to spare by crashing a speedboat into it. With a large tattoo on his face, Stu confuses wanton irresponsibility for character and brags about a “demon” inside of him that forces him drink uncontrollably and fraternize with prostitutes. His fiancé embraces him happily and her father finally finds respect for his son-in-law. This is nearly unpalatable. Why ought one feel for a character that takes such bizarre pride in his hurtful actions when the character fails even to amuse?
One of the key factors in separating great comedy from lesser comedy is the quality of characters. Though the first Hangover wasn’t exactly a great comedy, its characters fresh and it played out in a mostly inventive fashion. The same cannot be said of Part II.
When one makes recording of a recording, each new recording is weaker than the last. This will continue until the newer recordings bear no resemblance to the original. The Hangover Part II isn’t so eroded that it shares nothing with the original but it feels like a few recordings too many.
Great review. I’ll definitely still see the film, but my expectations are seriously lowered. I think I would’ve enjoyed the first one more if people hadn’t hyped it up as much as they did.
I thought the first Hangover was a good, not great, comedy. With that in mind, I wasn’t itching to watch the second installment like many bro-dogs were.
However, I did see it and let me tell you: it’s fun. I don’t know what critics/reviewers were expecting from a movie entitled the HANGOVER other than what it is – a HANGOVER. Perhaps many critics have never experienced a night gone too far and waking up with little memory of what transpired. Oftentimes this debauchery must be recalled through a slow re-creation of events over the course of several conversations with the partners in crime. That is the very point of this movie franchise and you should have expected it from this sequel.
Granted, many plot devices from the first movie were used again and this seems to be what chaps folks’ buns the most. Such a lack of growth would certainly be a problem for a movie that intends to build a deeper story, but clearly that’s not what we have here. Indeed, what we have here is a HANGOVER – that same mistake you make again, and again, and again. If the story hadn’t been similar, it would not have been genuine.
The base experience of a HANGOVER is that terrible realization that you just did the same crap again. That’s what this movie is. And they made it pretty damn fun.
Being similar is fine but being stale is not. It’s a fine enough movie as a standalone experience but the beat-for-beat similarities make it almost useless.
I have to say, I loved the first movie and going into this, I expected nothing less of the second movie. It did not fail me and if you were expecting anything less than a repeat that is on you. They took the line they drew last time and ran right on past it, making the audience cringe with the character’s discovery. They had some twists that I thought were great, but I do not want to list them out for those that have not seen the movie yet. I am disappointed in myself that I did not pick up on a couple of things earlier, but this formula worked again for me. I laughed and laughed.
My wife and I disagree on one thing, while she loved Part 1 and she enjoyed Part 2, she thought that Bridesmaids was better than Part 2. I disagree, to a guy, I think Hangover 2 is great.
I have to agree with your wife on this one. I think Bridesmaids is actually a lot better than both Hangovers. That’s will likely be my comedy of the year unless something else outdoes it.