In The Hangover Part II, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) travel to exotic Thailand for Stu’s wedding. After the unforgettable bachelor party in Las Vegas, Stu is taking no chances and has opted for a safe, subdued pre-wedding brunch. However, things don’t always go as planned. What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens in Bangkok can’t even be imagined. — (C) Warner Bros
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong
Staring: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms
I was not a big fan of “The Hangover;” the raunchy 2009 start of this franchise. I did not find it funny at all which is, in and of itself, odd since I usually love “R” rated humor. Some of my favorite movies of the past few years include; “Wedding Crashers,” “Knocked Up,” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” In fact, you can say that I usually love movies that come out of the Judd Apatow camp, “Bridesmaids,” included.
Just imagine my surprise therefor, when I found myself laughing hysterically at “Hangover 2,” especially in light of the fact that the movie has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 35% which means that only 35% of the critics that have reviewed the film enjoyed it. Of course, the fact that it has an audience score, on the same web site, of 94% should say it all.
Some of the reviews I read have stated that “Hangover 2” is a beat for beat remake of the original. I did not think so. As stated earlier, I did not like the original. And, by the way, so what if it was? The movie is funny. In fact, it is laugh out funny.
The major difference between the two films is that this one takes place in Bangkok and surrounding areas in Thailand. The original was all about “What happens in Vegas . . . .” You can say, this one is all about “One Night in Bangkok . . . . “
As in the original, the film takes off when our three heroes wake up after a night of pre-wedding partying and find themselves in a sleazy hotel in Bangkok. They do no remember how they got there or what happened the night before. The only thing they know is that one of their gang, “the wolfpack” is missing. And, they must find him before the wedding which is coming up in the next few days. This time however, the missing gang member is not the groom, but the brother of the bride. As a gross out change from the first movie, they do find his finger in the hotel room. But, that is all.
For the remainder of the film, there is one laugh out loud moment after another as the wolfpack tries to find the missing hero. Along the way, they discover most of what happened the night before. And, like the first movie, almost none of it is pretty.
The cast led by Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis all fall into their characters from the first movie with ease. It is almost as if they never left them even though Cooper and Galifianakis have gone on to be leading men in other films. Galifianakis was himself a standout out in “Due Date,” the most recent film from the “Hangover” franchise director Todd Phillips.
The Thailand locations from the sleazy side of Bangkok to the tropical side of Phuket looked absolutely beautiful. The camerawork was simply outstanding.
On the whole, I give this film 4/5.