Same same

Rating: 5/10 (28 May 2011)

I can remember the last time I saw a sequel to a movie, I can't remember the last time I saw a sequel that was the exact same scheme and practically a remake of its predecessor. Literally, nothing changes, there is hardly a mention that the three leads have been through this exact same thing. They don't even seem to worry about the teenager they lost losing a finger. Everything is the same.
Director Todd Phillips seem to think "hey, they liked the first one, let's keep it the same and make it a different location." I really must say the first Hangover film I was a big fan of. I thought it was smart, funny, and very heartfelt in places. Rarely do we see leads that are as funny as mystified as the audience. I liked that. Sadly, Phillips doesn't want to experiment and place these characters in different surroundings with them in different events, he literally seems to have taken the first script and moved it over to Bangkok. A sign of unoriginality, uncertainty, and above all, laziness.
The plot, if I should bother to explain it, is the Wolfpack going to Bangkok to celebrate Stu's wedding. The night before the wedding, the wife thinks of a brilliant idea that the guys go out for one drink, and take her sixteen year old brother with her. I find it funny the thought of what could possibly happen to these three the night before a big wedding didn't even cross this woman's head. Not to mention putting them in charge of an adolescent.
No big though, they go out, have a drink by the bon-fire, next thing you know they blackout and wake up in some rundown slum of an apartment in Bangkok. The adventure re-begins. We get the same jokes, the same antics, and the same characters giving their same performances.
We have Phil, the calmest of the group, Stu the wimp, and Alan the idiot. The only two that manage to squeeze laughs are Mr. Chow (Jeong) and Alan. Chow's outrageous attitude and Alan's simple minded, softee persona both bring out the best The Hangover Part II has to offer.
Most of the shots of Bangkok are the scummy and grungy parts of the city and most of which turn people off to a place like that. When in fact, Thailand is very exquisite in parts. Obviously, the filmmakers wanted to capture the blacker sides of town to show what kind of neighborhood the boys were looking through. Still, I think the goal was to turn off viewers from Bangkok.
Some of the events in this film are disgusting, but certainly fitting. The strip club scene is very dirty, but very funny making even the dirtiest parts of The Hangover Part II, appealing. The scene that was probably the most offensive was the photo during the end credits that parodies one of the most famous photos of the Vietnam War that was taken in the Ho Chi Minh city. Most people probably won't get it, and while you think it was uncalled for, it's something you just really need to let go and forget. It isn't worth it.
With so many watered down comedy films like Fired Up and even with R rated comedies that are questionable for that, The Hangover Part II stands out as a film takes its R rating and utilizes it to the rating's full capabilities. While there are many laughs, what it all boils down to is it is just a raunchier and not as fun sequel that takes everything that made the first film so enjoyable and suspenseful and just does it again. This time, we know every twist and turn and nothing is a surprise.
Starring: Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha. Directed by: Todd Phillips.