A good buzz! The unnecessary action sequences cause it not to be a great hangover!

Rating: 9/10 (27 May 2011)

It happened again in "The Hangover Part II". I am referring to many of the ingenious comedic elements that made the first "Hangover" a real crowd pleaser- the magnetic rapport between its three main protagonists or better stated, those pack of wolves; the unpredictability of the narrative structure in the protagonists' ordeal trying to figure out the mania that occurred during their obliterated state; the scene-stealing comments from the eccentric Alan character; and of course "those pictures". Sure one could argue that it is more of the same from the original, but if it ain't broke don't fix it or forget it for that matter. "The Hangover II" takes place in Thailand a couple of years after the first Hangover mayhem occurred in Vegas. Dentist Stu (Ed Helms) is marrying his lovely young bride in Thailand; however, Stu wants to extract himself from anything close that resembles a "bachelor party" due to the toothless mania that happened to him in Vegas. Stu's best buddies Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Doug (Justin Bartha) head east with their wives and kids for Stu's wedding. And even the offbeat Alan attends even though Stu is reluctant with the idea. Into the picture in this one is also Stu fiancÃ©e's teenage brother Teddy. And before you could say "just-one-beer beach bonfire in a Thailand Resort causes Bangkok profound partying", the madcap fiesta experience returns to the Wolfpack; and Teddy is also along for the ride. Doug does save himself from the forgettable partying by splitting from the bonfire early. I do not want to provide too many more shots on what happened in "The Hangover II" because it would then spoil your hangover experience. But let me just say that they don't call it "bang kok" for nothing. As in the original, this Hangover flick also gets some zany chow time from the flamboyant villain Mr. Chow, again masterfully played by Ken Jeong. I also loved the cameo work from the great Paul Giamatti. And yes, we do get another scene-stealing Tyson comedic punch in this one from the Champ! In fact, all the performances were as good in the sequel as in the original, but still the top thespian of the Wolfpack pack is Zach Galifianakis, who delivers another comedic brawny performance as the one & only Alan. Director Todd Phillips keeps the pace engaging as he did the first time around, but my only Phillips knock is that in a few scenes he tried to do the whole "action-comedy" thing in "The Hangover Part II" which made me want to barf, its called "The Hangover Part II" not "Bad Boys II"; nevertheless, another solid directorial orchestration from Phillips. The screen writing team of Phillips and Craig Mazin & Scott Armstrong delivered a funny script outside the whole "bang bang" sequences. "The Hangover Part II" is a must-see even though you probably will not be as hung over from it as you were when you first had a taste of a cinematic "Hangover". **** Good