The Hangover Part II Review

As The Hangover Part II begins we are treated to a strange sense of déjà vu with Phil (Bradley Cooper) on the phone with his friend’s girlfriend who seems anxious and worried as to where they are; Phil, Stu (Ed Helms) and, Alan (Zach Galifianakis) stand dirty, scared and, delirious as Phil utters the words “We Fucked Up… Again”. This scene is almost a line for line recreation of the opening of the first Hangover and for better or worse sets the stage for the entire rest of the movie which is a mixture of reused or slightly altered jokes or increasingly insane and ridiculously improbable scenarios that the Wolf Pack (Alan’s name for the 3 of them) have to overcome.

The Hangover Part II is a lot more of the same and not for the better, it follows almost exactly the plot of the previous movie and deviates only in location and who is getting married. This time its Stu’s turn to get married and his friends travel to Thailand for the wedding. The night before they all gather on the beach along with the brides 16 year old Stamford graduate brother, Teddie and as they raise their beers in a toast the screen fads to white and we are transported to the most foul hotel room in existence (located in Bangkok) with cockroaches crawling over the beds and 17 different colored stains on the mattresses and of course a finger in a bowl of blood. Just replace a trashed Vegas suite with this nasty hotel room and replace a tiger in the bathroom with a chain smoking clothed monkey and the game as been set. When they wake up they find the brides little brother missing instead of Doug like in the first movie and so begins a long retread of the events in the first film as The Wolf Pack must try and locate Teddie and get back to the wedding in time. The 3 friends must retrace their steps and piece back together what happened the night before while along the way discovering the chaos they instilled in the shadier parts of Bangkok.

As the movie progresses Phil, Stu and, Alan are confronted by Russian and Asian mobsters, ladyboys, and a monk monastery. With each new obstacle they learn something deep and disturbing about their actions and as Stu states “There is a demon living inside me that is the only explanation for the things that I have done”. The Hangover Part II sees the return of Mr. Chow the Chinese gangster who the boys found in the trunk of the police car in the last movie and now Alan has invited him to party with them. The movie amps up the action quite a bit with shootouts, car chases, and riots but even through all of these insane set pieces I can’t help but feel like the film makers couldn’t come up with any fresh jokes and instead added a bunch of preposterous scenarios that are just so far over the top that that serves as the joke itself.

The Hangover Part II isn’t all bad with the return of some great characters including Mike Tyson. And some amazing scenes from Zach Galifianakis who truly steals the show as the increasingly sociopathic Alan, as he has all the most hilariously memorable moments. The monkey makes quite the impression as well with his tendency for nibbling on penises.

Though The Hangover Part II made me laugh and entertained me quite a bit it is too much of the same and not creative enough for me to recommend it, even more so considering the amazing quality of the first movie. With more action but less laughs the Hangover Part II is a mixed bag, not nearly as memorable as the first but also cranking up the ludicrous scenarios The Wolf Pack find themselves in. Hopefully after this hangover they will say “never again” before they run any good will they have left into the ground. 

(3 out of 5)