Not As Bad As Its Reputation But Still a Letdown

Rating: Null/10 (6 February 2012)

The Hangover Part II (2011)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
While this sequel isn't nearly as bad as some of the reviews made it out to be, there's still no question that very little effort went into the film and what we've basically got is a rehash of the first film minus all the clever moments. This time out Stu (Ed Helms) is about to be married in Bangkok so of course Phil (Bradley Cooper), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) goes along with him and sure enough they wake up one morning not knowing what happened the night before. THE HANGOVER PART II has very little imagination and it's clear that they were just cashing in on the huge success of the first film. It's really a shame that the filmmakers didn't try to come up with something fresh and original, which was what the first movie was. Instead of them coming up with anything new we're basically treated to the exact same story with many of the same plot devices in full swing. I think the biggest problem with the movie is that there's simply nothing here to be excited about. The first movie gave us a great mystery, a great set-up and we're were having fun from start to finish. None of that is true this time out as the mystery just seems watered down and in many ways you don't care what happened the night before. Many of the raunchy jokes don't work because they seem to just be going for the lazy dirty moment. With that said, there are still some very funny moments scattered throughout but there's just not enough to make the film worth sitting through. The four leads are all in fine shape and they do what they can with the material. Of the four I'd say it's Galifianakis who once again stands out from the pack but then again there's no doubt that his character was given the majority of the good moments. Paul Giamatti and Nick Cassavetes both appear in fun cameos and Ken Jeong is back as well.