A Funny But Very Similar Addition to The Hangover Series

Rating: 6/10 (29 May 2011)

Todd Phillips' sequel to the hugely successful 'The Hangover' continues the odyssey of three friends attempting to find their lost companion after a drunken night gone completely awry. In the first film it was Doug, the groom, who went missing but this time around his place has been filled by Teddy, brother of Stu's fiancé. This isn't the only similarity in 'The Hangover Part 2' which has lifted proceedings out of Las Vegas and dropped them into Bangkok. On a positive note though the film is still very funny in places with the biggest laughs usually being at the expense of Stu who continues the habit of disfiguring his body: a tattoo on the face is his reward this time for his troubles. The biggest problem however with the film is its lack of imagination with the writers opting to reiterate the formula of the first film. This encompasses three friends: Phil, Stu and Alan travelling around an unknown city in pursuit of information to piece together the events of the previous night. The idea worked well as evidenced by the first film's box office intake and it seems the creative team has experienced some trepidation in changing this method. As a result, 'The Hangover Part 2' feels like something of a missed opportunity. With the stroke of genius that was relocating to Thailand there should have been a wealth of ideas pouring in to use at their disposal instead of what we have as the finished product. For example, seeing as how it deals with three foreign tourists in a country that's unknown to them why not have them separated and alone before attempting to find their way back to one another or have Doug take part in proceedings this time. There is also a palpable lack of danger in the film that could have been exploited to good use such as the sleazy underbelly of Bangkok. We do have glimpses of drug dealers and transsexual strippers but there is a feeling afterwards that more could have been explored and since it is a film, exaggerated. The three leads put in pretty good shifts with Ed Helms surpassing the other two with his portrayal of a Stu struggling to cope with each new discovery with one particularly bad revelation being one of the funniest moments of the film. Bradley Cooper as Phil does not actually have a lot to do in the film with the majority of mishaps being inflicted on Stu which is a shame because Phil's position as the head of the group could have been reverted to take him out of his comfort zone. Zach Galifianakis grows into the role of Alan after a clumsy opening which sees the plot signposted for the audience instead of the easy transition of the first film. In 'The Hangover Part 2' we get a more petulant Alan than the first film but as the film continues we are gradually introduced to the character of Alan that made 'The Hangover' such an enjoyable film. As a sequel to the original this film does not quite match up to its predecessor but there are still some great moments such as the 'death' of Mr Chow and the realisation that the lead characters scaled a Buddhist Temple and kidnapped a gardening monk. There are disappointments such as the widely debated tattoo parlour scene that saw both Mel Gibson and Liam Neeson come and go. It is quite clear that there was a rewrite and as such it is a scene with few laughs. Other opportunities missed could be their one and very standard scene in a Bangkok police station with this scene in particular an obvious platform for comedy. In the end though 'The Hangover Part 2' does exactly what it's supposed to do: provide some laughs but you may feel like bringing out your copy of the original to placate any longings that the sequel does not satisfy.