Movie review: The Hangover Part II

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Genre: Comedy

Opens locally Thursday, May 26th, 2011 

Run Time: 1 hour 42 minutes, Rated R

Starring: Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong

Directed by Todd Phillips (Due Date, The Hangover, Old School)

​It happened....again. And if you can believe that premise, you'll be good to go with "The Hangover Part II." It kind of defeats the purpose to try to recommend, or not recommend, you go see a certain film...chances are this review isn't going to sway your opinion one way or another. In fact, I'm quite certain that "The Hangover Part II" will be a big hit and make lots of money, sadly inspiring a 3rd film in the franchise. But as a huge fan of the first film, I've got to say...what a massive let down.

Some films lead themselves naturally into a sequel, and then others are just made to simply try to cash in. "The Hangover Part II" is definitely the latter. It is basically the same film as the first, only louder, more abrasive, more shocking, and enormously less funny. All of the main characters are shoe-horned into a hokey premise that even in The Hangover universe seems unbelievable and cheesey. I'll say it again...what a huge let down.

The plot structure remains the same (why change what works, right?). Our group of friends, the wolfpack as they call themselves, awake to find themselves in a crazy circumstance after a night of heavy partying. The film is a comedy but also a who-dun-it...or more like a who-dun-what. The mystery as to what happened is slowly revealed over the course of the film as the guys race back to reach poor Stu's wedding in time.

The fact that they are in Bangkok is irrelevant, and only serves to provide our guys with a new environment to reek havoc upon. Helms and Cooper try their best to add to the film, but this time around Galifianakis and Jeong (the scene-stealing Mr. Chow from the first film) grow tired. Just like in the miserable "Due Date," I think Galifianakis proves a better wingman than a full-studded spotlight star...his man-baby bit just didn't provide many laughs this time around.

And of course, like with all comedies, problems with the plot and the characters can be easily overlooked if in fact the film was just plain funny. "The Hangover Part II" is not funny. There, I've said it. It's like telling a joke twice...it may provide a laugh or be downright hysterical the first time you hear it, but after a second telling it just is like, "heh." "The Hangover Part II" is just a punchline that we've already heard before, in a movie called "The Hangover."

I was already firmly convinced of my one-star rating of this film long before the final scene of the movie, in which we are given one of the worst and perhaps predictable cameos in recent film history. I won't spoil it, I'll allow the movie to spoil itself for you.

​Like I said, you'll probably see the movie anyways. I'd be interested to hear if anybody thinks this film actually holds even a candle to the first film. I like the actors and the characters too, but too much is sometimes more than enough.

Like most hangovers, I was happy when this one was over, and hope to avoid experiencing another one as bad as this