The guys are back and they — once again — find themselves with another misadventure. Bradley Cooper, Zack Galifianakis, and Ed Helms reprised their roles in “The Hangover Part II.”
THE HANGOVER PART II
Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, strong sexual content including graphic nudity, drug use and brief violent images
Run Time: 102 Minutes (approx.)
URL: hangoverpart2.com
Studio Synopsis:
In “The Hangover Part II,” Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) travel to exotic Thailand for Stu’s wedding. With the memory of Doug’s nearly disastrous bachelor party in Las Vegas still fresh—or at least well-documented—Stu is taking no chances. He has opted for a safe, subdued, pre-wedding trip brunch, with pancakes, coffee…and no alcohol. However, things don’t always go as planned.
Two nights before the big day, at a fabulous resort in Thailand, Stu relents. One beer each. In sealed bottles. What could go wrong?
What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens in Bangkok can’t even be imagined.
“The Hangover Part II” is director Todd Phillips’ follow-up to his 2009 smash hit “The Hangover,” which became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time and also won the Golden Globe for Best Film – Comedy or Musical. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha star in the film, reprising their roles from “The Hangover.” The main cast also includes Ken Jeong and Jeffrey Tambor, who also return from the first film, and Mason Lee, Jamie Chung and Oscar® nominee Paul Giamatti, who join the ensemble.
Phillips directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Craig Mazin & Scot Armstrong. Phillips also produced the film under his Green Hat Films banner, together with Dan Goldberg. Thomas Tull, Scott Budnick, Chris Bender and J.C. Spink are the executive producers, with David A. Siegel and Jeffrey Wetzel serving as co-producers. Behind the scenes, the creative team was led by director of photography Lawrence Sher, production designer Bill Brzeski, editors Debra Neil-Fisher and Mike Sale, costume designer Louise Mingenbach, and composer Christophe Beck.
“The Hangover Part II” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Legendary Pictures, and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYL_T7f59o8[/youtube]
Richard’s Take:
In 2009’s “The Hangover,” Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zack Galifanakis) travel to Las Vegas to attend their friend Doug’s (Justin Bartha) wedding. After the bachelor party with drinks and some drugs added to the mix, a confused Phil, Stu and Alan awake in the hotel with no memory of the night before, a baby in their possession, a tiger in the room, and Doug, who is getting married the next day, is missing.
In “The Hangover, Part II,” Phil, Alan, and Doug travel to Thailand for Stu’s wedding. After having a drink with some drugs added to the mix, a confused Phil, Stu and Alan awake in a crappy motel in Bangkok with no memory of the night before, a monkey in their possession, Doug and Stu’s fiancée’s 16 year-old brother (Mason Lee) is missing, and Stu is getting a married the next day.
Sounds familiar? When you compared the two films, the plot lines are almost a carbon copy of the same script, except for slight changes, such as in a different locale (Las Vegas to Bangkok), a change of animals (lion to monkey), the age of the kid (baby to 16 year old), and a different groom (Doug to Stu).
Is that good or bad? Well, it is good, because you know it’s going to be a hilarious and zany adventure with these likeable characters, but the bad is you are getting almost the exact same story…again. In some ways, what happens in Las Vegas – should have stayed in Vegas (sorry, I had to go there). Las Vegas felt brighter and more beautiful, than the dark side of Bangkok. Additionally, their adventure in Bangkok could have happened in any large U.S. metropolis ~ the out of the country setting, surprisingly, wasn’t much of an impact to the actual story. The writers (Todd Phillips, Scot Armstrong, and Craig Mazin) did keep most of the bathroom humor in check, but with higher sexual overtones and less nudity.
Faces from the first film reappear in the sequel: Ken Jeong returns as Asian thief Leslie Chow (as well as his full frontal nudity), Jeffrey Tambor as Sid Garner as Alan’s father, and a surprise appearance from a sports athlete who gets to shine again. While the veteran actor Tambor is only seen briefly in one scene, Jeong has a larger role in the sequel, of which his character is central to the plot.
Joining the old faces are new ones: Jamie Chung (The Real World: San Diego) as Stu’s fiancée Lauren and Lee (son of director Ang Lee) as Teddy, Lauren’s younger brother.
The best parts of the film are the leads and the end credits.
Cooper, Helms, and Galifanakis have great chemistry together, but I wished Galifanakis didn’t have to portray the role as insecure and so dumb. Too me, it would have been nice to see the character of Alan mature a little after his Las Vegas adventure … but this is Galifanakis and that is his comedic style, which works for him. Bartha as friend Doug is once again left on the sideline in the film – he’s not missing as the guys first thought, he is at the wedding location wondering what happen to his friends (Bartha needs a better agent to push for a bigger role next time). Helms gets to show off his singing voice in a nice scene on a boat playing the guitar and performing a changed lyrics version of Billy Joel’s “Allentown.”
The end credits is becoming the highlight of a “Hangover” film … and gets the biggest laughs. As with the 1st film, the closing moments have still photos of what happen to the small plotlines that are not completely explained in the actual on-screen story. For instance, how Alan got a shaved haircut and how Stu has a face tattoo. Maybe the film series should be just stills of their adventures. It’s time to locate our old Mattel toy classic, The View-Master, to watch the next “Hangover” film.
As a viewer and a fan of the first film, I got a fair amount of laughs with the sequel, but I think the original was better in terms of freshness and the mystery of the “what happen” plot. If there is a third film, I hope the writers would put the characters in a fresh new story and give poor Doug a larger role.
Like I said, I wished I wasn’t getting a second cup of the same, but “The Hangover: Part II” is still enjoyable for the performances. Watch it and you will still laugh … but not as much as before.