Hi Bryan Here….
The sequel to the hit comedy ‘The Hangover’ is out in all theaters and is definitely funny, but with a price. I know most of you have seen the sequel already and yes I am late getting this review out, but I have had tons of things going on. But alas, the review is here. First thing to know about ‘The Hangover Part II’ is that you will most definitely laugh wildly all the way through the film. The second thing you need to know about ‘The Hangover Part II’ is that it is the exact same film as the first ‘Hangover’ movie to a tee, except it takes place in Thailand rather than Vegas.
If you didn’t like the first ‘Hangover’ film then you most likely won’t enjoy the sequel, but rest assured if you did enjoy the first film, you will be satisfied. For the most part, everyone returns for the sequel that was in the first film, and the same situations occur, some of which are amped up to 11. I am going to give SPOILERS below for the reason being, that it is the same premise as the first film. If you don’t want to read the SPOILERS, then I suggest you stop reading right now.
This time around, Stu (Ed Helms a.k.a. The Nard Dog) is the one getting married. Sadly it is not to the hot Heather Graham from the first film, but rather to a beautiful girl he met named Lauren played by Jamie Chung. Lauren is from Thailand and therefor she wants to be married there. Lauren’s parents very much disapprove of Stu, but Stu happily goes along with everything. Stu invites Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Doug (Justin Bartha) from the first film, but does not want to invite Alan (Zack Galifiankis) because of what happened at the last wedding where Alan drugged everyone. Also coming along to Thailand is Lauren’s young 16 year old brother, Teddy (Mason Lee) who is a prodigy who plays instruments and is attending Stanford. But Doug and Phil convince Stu to invite Alan. This is a great scene, because we get to see the inside of Alan’s lair which is a room at his parent’s house which is riddled with hilarious posters and toys. Stu does not want to have a bachelor party at all due to what happened at the last one, and his friends give him a lot of shit about it, but reluctantly go along with the plan.
THE STAGE IS SET!!!
Once in Thailand, Phil wants Stu, Doug, Alan, and Lauren’s little brother Teddy to have a celebratory beer on the beach in honor of Stu in front of their hotel before the wedding day around a campfire with marshmallows. And that’s the last thing they remember before the wake up in HELL. Or Bangkok, Thailand without remembering a thing.
From here on out, they go into the abyss and underworld that is Bangkok to try and piece together what happened to them the night before and to find their lost new friend Teddy. Upon waking up in a dirty scary motel with Stu finding out he has a Mike Tyson tribal permanent tattoo on his face, and Alan finding out he has a bald head now, the all notice a chopped off finger with a ring on it belonging to Teddy. They also find a naked Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) the small naked criminal asian from the first film on the motel floor. It turns out that Alan invited him to the wedding as his +1. From this point on is a crazy, fun, and thrilling ride through the seedy underbelly of Bangkok, Thailand.
‘The Hangover Part II’ is a sequel at its core, but it seems like a remake. Kinda like how ‘Evil Dead 2’ was some sort of sequel/remake of the first ‘Evil Dead’. ‘The Hangover Part II’ is the same story and plot line all down the line, but more amped up and new location. But yes, you will laugh often, and hardily. All the great elements from the first film are here plus more. One might say, “why change an already good thing”, while another would say, “this was the same thing, unoriginal, and lazy.” But I say, it’s ‘The Hangover Part II’. It is what it is. It does what it does. And the goal of the movie was to make me laugh, have a good time, and entertain the fuck out of me. And that’s what it did exactly. Very funny. See it.
-Bryan