“I can’t believe this is happening again!”
When the Hangover made waves a couple years, it was as an underdog comedy that didn’t have any huge stars in it. Flash forward to today and the sequel is one of the most anticipated movies in years. The 3 main stars have all become huge, and even former bit player Ken Jeong has a role is seemingly every comedy that is released. With all the added attention, it makes it that much more difficult for the movie to be the same kind of critical success story that it was the first time around. Was it a worthy sequel? In my opinion, it was not.
The Hangover part 2 is not so much a sequel to the first movie as it was a remake in a different location. The format is the same, and in a lot of scenes, even the jokes are the same. This time it is Stu (Ed Helms) getting married, and because of his wife’s heritage, the wedding is in Thailand. Due to the events that occurred in the first movie, Stu is adamant about not having a bachelor party. He was also adamant about not inviting Alan (Zach Galafanakis), but after some convincing by Doug (Justin Bartha) and Phil (Bradley Cooper) he ends up inviting him. Even though there is no bachelor party, the guys, along with Chow (Ken Jeong) and Stu’s soon to be brother in law Teddy (Mason Lee) have another crazy night that they cannot remember. Like the first installment, the next 2 days are spent trying to locate a missing member of their part and to get everyone back in time for the wedding.
Before I get into my issues with the movie, I do want to say I laughed at it a fairly decent amount. Not anything close to the amount I laughed at the original, but it had enough laughs in it to make it a decent way to kill a hot, muggy evening. It would be very difficult to make a completely unfunny movie with this group of performers. The issue is with the sheer laziness in the writing and directing. The format of the movie is exactly the same, right down to an Ed Helms musical number when things seem there most dire. Now many people think that a sequel has to be better than the original to be deemed a success. I don’t believe that. However if you are going to make an exact copy of your original movie, that is going to invite people to compare the two, and there is just no comparison here.
This summer seems to have a lot of great R rated comedies set to come out. The Hangover part 2 could have started the summer out with a bang. Instead, it starts it off with a slightly funny whimper. I am sure with the financial success of the movie, a third one will soon follow. I urge Todd Phillips to take his time on the next one because if it follows the pattern of decrease that this one has established, we are going to be in for one bad movie.
RATING 5 OUT OF 10
No comments:
Post a Comment