Has its moments, but lacks the chemistry of the original

Rating: 4/10 (26 May 2011)

The anticipation surrounding the release of The Hangover Part Two has been palpable. Benefitting from the surprise blockbuster success of its predecessor and a recent legal kerfuffle, Part Two is poised as one of the year's biggest films. The midnight crowd was abuzz with excitement, they didn't just come to see the movie, they came to love the movie.
This is perhaps why I felt such disconnect while watching the film. I'm someone who enjoyed the original Hangover, yet I took issue with the sometimes detestable characters and their dirty deeds. It seemed that some of the events were structured as random, easy laughs as opposed to being the result of the film's comedic momentum. I laughed, I actually laughed quite frequently. Yet, I could not quite join the chorus of celebration.
Nevertheless, there I was surrounded by people laughing themselves into a stupor. Couldn't they see what was happening? They were watching the same movie that they had quoted endlessly since 2009. This is a sequel that commits the cardinal sin of all sequels; it repeats the story of the original film.
This is the paragraph where I'd usually launch into some basic summary, but honestly, if you're interested enough in this movie to read this article, then you've seen the first film. If you seen the first film, congratulations! You know every basic plot point of The Hangover Part Two. Zack Galifinakis once again steals the film as the destructive man- child Alan. Like everything else in this film, Alan's boorishness is cranked up to eleven. I'd assume all this hullabaloo constitutes the filmmakers' attempts to disguise the completely derivative storyline.
In all fairness, I did laugh more during "The Hangover Part Two" than I would at an average raunch-fest. However, the chemistry too often feels stale, as if the cast is still exhausted from making the first film. Occasionally they manages to recapture the spark that made the original so popular. Yet, when viewed in context of its predecessor this Hangover is easy to shake.