Rated R (Pervasive Language, Strong Sexual Content
including Graphic Nudity, Drug Use and Brief Violent Images)
Running Time: 1 Hour & 42 Minutes
Cast:
Bradley
Cooper-Phil Wenneck
Ed
Helms-Stu Price
Zach
Galifianakis-Alan Garner
Justin
Bartha-Doug Billings
Mason
Lee-Teddy
Jamie
Chung-Lauren
Ken
Jeong-Leslie Chow
Jeffrey
Tambor-Sid Garner
Sasha
Barrese-Tracy Garner
Paul
Giamatti-Kingsley
Nick
Cassavetes-Tattoo Joe
Yasmin
Lee-Kimmy
Mike
Tyson-As Himself
Directed by Todd Philips
 |
| The Wolf Pack once again find themselves forced to retrace their steps after a wild night in "The Hangover Part II." |
It has been two years since Doug Billing’s (Justin Bartha) disastrous bachelor party at Las Vegas and now, it’s Stu Price’s (Ed Helms) turn to tie the knot with Lauren (Jamie Chung). Out of deference to Lauren’s parents, Stu is planning to hold the wedding ceremony in Thailand and has invited Doug and Phil Wenneck (Bradley Cooper) as well as Doug’s simple-minded brother-in-law, Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis), albeit reluctantly after what happened in Vegas. Joining them is Lauren’s younger brother, Teddy (Mason Lee), a pre-med student at Stanford University and a music prodigy. Once the ‘Wolf Pack’ arrives in Thailand, a reception is held where Lauren’s father voices his disapproval of Stu. Before the night is over, Stu hesitantly joins the rest of his friends for roasted marshmallows around a campfire. They share a beer and toast to Stu and Lauren’s future happiness. Of course, bad luck ensues and the next day, Stu, Phil, and Alan wake up in a seedy motel in Bangkok with absolutely no recollection of what happened during the previous twelve hours. The group discovers a chain-smoking monkey in the room, along with naked gangster Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong). To Stu’s horror, they discover that Teddy has gone missing; the only thing left is his ring finger. Stu and the rest of the gang quickly scour the streets of Bangkok in search of Teddy but quickly learn that the wild night they had pales in comparison to what happened in Las Vegas.
Sequels are tricky and a director has to balance what worked in the first film with something new in the second. Success means getting something like “The Empire Strikes Back” or “The Dark Knight” but total failure? You get a steaming pile of garbage like “The Hangover Part II” that is nothing more than a lazy cash-in that repeats everything in the first film but to no success. It’s shocking at how much Philips just takes from the original, as if afraid that changing the formula ever so slightly would offend the fans. Sure, the setting is now in Bangkok but that’s about all that’s new. This is a problem with Hollywood in general as it has become an industry dominated by sequels and more sequels but if you get anything say, “The Tree of Life,” audiences will spurn it for being ‘pretentious’ or “Bridesmaids” for that matter because some still cling to sexist beliefs that women are unable to be funny. Every plot beat and joke is clearly telegraphed before it actually happens. “The Hangover Part II” begins exactly like the first one, with Phil calling that they ‘f*cked up.’ A monkey replaces the baby from the first film. When Doug calls that Teddy has been found in a police station, we already know that it’s not going to be the one Stu is looking for. Alan ends up drugging everyone but this time with marshmallows instead of spiking their drinks. It’s also no surprise that the gang once again runs afoul of the local criminal underworld. One of the things I liked in the first film was that everyone was logically trying to retrace their steps. Here, they resort to meditation at a Buddhist temple and there’s just no rhyme or reason to anything that occurs. The pacing starts to slag in the second hour and you just wish it would just end already.
The ‘comedy’ has been replaced with pure shock value to elicit laughter from the audience but all it does is end up being vile and offensive. In fact, the cavalier attitude displayed by Stu and his friends is appalling. At a local strip club, Stu learns that he had been sodomized by a katoey prostitute. A katoey is a male-to-female transgendered person or effeminate gay man living in Thailand. I say sodomized because that is exactly what happened. Stu was under the influence of alcohol and therefore unable to give permission consensually. When rape becomes a joke, there is a serious problem. Near the end of the film, Stu is in despair and about to give in and what does Phil do? He discusses all the possible excuses to tell Lauren’s father. An injured 16-year-old is lost in a city and Phil is making up excuses. Of course, Teddy is finally found (and again, the discovery is disappointing), no one seems all that concerned that his ring finger has been chopped off and that his music and possibly his career as a future surgeon is over. And the father still gives his blessing to Stu! Let’s not forget offensive as well. Phil remarks that Lauren has a ‘solid rack for an Asian.’ Why, thank you, Phil, you have just insulted the women of my nationality by implying that they have small breasts. The end credits once again show a slideshow of what really happened and each one is more disgusting than the one before it but Philips takes it too far by desecrating a famous photo from the Vietnam War. If you do not know which one I’m referring to, it is the one where General Nguyen Ngoc Loan is pointing a gun at the head of a Viet Cong prisoner. I wonder if people would still be laughing if a joke was made about 9/11.
All of the cast return for the sequel but they’re less likable and smart this time around. While Ed Helms sticks with his crazy, neurotic personality, Bradley Cooper is little more than a jerk and a douche-bag. Zach Galifianakis’ Alan Garner does provide a few chuckle-worthy lines but he’s been regressed into an even more simple-minded character that just comes off as being sad and pathetic. The fun chemistry between the three is absent and all of them are at each other’s throats. Ken Jeong reprises his homosexual Asian stereotype but he throws himself into the role with such wild abandon that you can’t help but feel admiration. The female characters, such as Jamie Chung and Sasha Barrese, do nothing but look worried in the handful of scenes that they appear in.
“The Hangover Part II” was released on May 26, 2011 to give it a jump over the Memorial Day weekend. Reviews have been negative with 35% on Rotten Tomatoes as critics noted that it ‘lacks the element of surprise—and most of the joy—that helped make the original a hit.’ Of course, it is already a box office hit with a whopping five-day total of $137 million, plus an estimated $59 million worldwide for a grand total of $196 million. A “Hangover Part III” is now likely and I shudder at the experience. Even an animated film, “Kung Fu Panda 2,” didn’t stand a chance, making $68 million when the original made that amount in three days instead of five. Audience reaction was highly positive, I mean, the woman sitting next to me couldn’t stop laughing. It’s a testament to American society when people find turd like this actually funny. Standards must be really low. I’ll probably get some flak for this review but I could care less. I wanted a funny film with fresh ideas and this is what gets shoved to us. You know, this sequel reminds me of the equally horrid “Sex and the City 2.” Consider “The Hangover Part II” a companion piece to it and avoid at all costs.
Final Rating: 0.5 out of 5
“When a monkey nibbles on a penis, it’s funny in any language!” (One of the few lines that was actually funny.)
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