Sort of like watching a rerun of a really good episode

Rating: 5/10 (7 June 2011)

The Hangover was a one joke premise that stretched into a slew of laughs. It's safe to say that a similar premise would work and be equally as funny. The problem with "The Hangover II" is that it has some good jokes, and its enjoyable to watch, but, like an all too faithful cover song, it's wayyyy too familiar and it lacks originality.
My real issue with it is that the premise is too similar to the first. Guys take bride/groom brother with them, have wild night, forget everything, have to find him. The repeat premise and some of the gags are almost cringeworthy. It's almost as if it's the same script with a little cut and paste work done on the gags for good measure.
But some of the jokes are funny. Most of the humor works because the guys are discovering what they did for the evening and forgot. It's when we see this stuff that we laugh. A couple of the outrageous moments involving Stu are hilarious.
But then there's that stuff that drags or the stuff that's too derivative. What's the deal with Paul Giamatti - such a great actor in a small part without much to do. Or the fact that some of their hijinks involves more action than humor that it seems the film, as we near the end, is going through the motions.
Perhaps the first one relied so heavily on the premise that it became a novelty film, and shouldn't have been repeated so faithfully. If there is a Hangover 3, it better have a big dose of originality. If they tried to imitate the premise again, wed end up in Friday the 13th land..and I don't think I could take another 10 of these.