THE HANGOVER II
By Gary “One Bourbon, One Shot, One Beer” Murray
Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis
Written by Todd Phillips. Scot Armstrong and Craig Mazin
Directed by Todd Phillips
Running time 1 hr 48 min
MPAA Rating (very hard) R
Selig Film Rating FULL PRICE
The Hangover was the little movie that could. The comedy was never expected to do much at the theatres, with no plan for a sequel. But it grossed unexpected millions at the box office and the powers that run Hollywood demanded a sequel. Now we have an almost equal in The Hangover II.
The story takes up a few years after the events of the first film. Stu (Ed Helms) is getting married in Thailand. Because of the last bachelor party, he wants a bachelor brunch with no booze. Phil (Bradley Cooper) begins to razz him about being so careful. Stu is also pushed to invite Alan (Zach Galifianakis) to the wedding. Alan considers the guys part of a ‘wolf pack’ and believes the last bachelor party the greatest weekend of his life.
Once in Thailand, we meet both the bride and her father. Dad considers Stu less than a man and more of a pabulum eating baby. There is no man behind his eyes. That night, the guys have an American beer and begin eating marshmallows.
They wake up in Bangkok with again no clue of how they got there. Alan has a shaved head and Stu has a Mike Tyson style tattoo on his face. Their international bad guy Chow (Ken Jeong) is once again in their lives and once again naked, showing his junk. They are also missing Teddy (Mason Lee) Stu’s new kid brother-in-law and doctor in training.
They begin a search to find the boy and get back to the wedding site. Along the way, they run into Russian mobsters, silent monks and women with a little something extra. It all almost builds to the wedding day climax.
Ed Helms is best known for his stint on The Daily Show and his current gig on The Office. Here he basically plays his same character of Andy Bernard. He does the slow burn until he explodes emotionally all over his cohorts. His crazed rants earn most of the laughs in The Hangover II.
Bradley Cooper is just not as cool as he was in the first film. This time out he comes across as just a mean, bitter married man looking for some kind of spark from his single days. It is a wonder why these guys would still be his friend.
Zach Galifianakis has become the new ‘go-to’ guy for comedy and here is definitely the second banana here. He delivers his lines but the sparkle just isn’t what it was the first time. He’s funny but just not that funny.
This film is in no way, shape or form a film for kids. It is full of foul language and exposed private parts. There is massive drug abuse and alcohol depravity. The PETA people will be angered by a monkey who smokes and deals drugs. There is a fantasy sequence where one character imagines scenes of the last film. He imagines them as children which upset a person around me.
Basically, if you loved The Hangover then you will love The Hangover II. It goes down much the same path with much of the same style of jokes. If you hated The Hangover, the sequel will not win any converts. This ending, like the last one, feels like a cheat. That may be the driving force behind the idea of these Hangover flicks, but it still leaves the audience with a wanting feeling.
