The Hangover came out of nowhere and took the world by storm. It was one of the best laugh out loud movies of the last ten years. It had it all (except for one thing that we got in the sequel). In the first movie, Doug (Justin Bartha) was getting married and his boys Stu (Ed Helms) and Phil (Bradley Cooper) decide to have a bachelor's party in Las Vegas. Alan (Zach Galifianakis) tags along since he's the weird soon to be brother-in-law. A night of epic proportions occurs and they can't find Doug to get him to the wedding. The movie revolves around the remaining three guys trying to figure out what happened the night before so that they can find Doug and get him to his wedding.
The Hangover Part II doesn't stray away from that formula at all. Doug, Stu, Phil and Alan go to Thailand for Stu's wedding where he is getting married to Lauren (Jamie Chung). Stu doesn't want to have the big bachelor's party and instead decides to just have a nice quiet couple of beers with his friends. Of course, madness ensues and they end up missing Teddy (Mason Lee) who is Stu's soon to be brother-in-law and the bright star in the eyes of Lauren's father.
This is not much different from the first movie. Which is good or bad depending on what you felt for the first movie. There is not much to differentiate it other than more of Ken Jeong and the thing that the first one was missing (ladyboys). Galifianakis is still the most lovably annoying character ever. You can't help but be annoyed at the stupid things he does, but since he does them in a totally sincere way, you can't help but laugh and say 'aww'.
The cast is all funny and great in their delivery. Ken Jeong was pretty damn hilarious. Cooper and Helms really work great together with one being the nervous mess and the other trying to be more of a calming force.
What I liked about both movies is that they are able to balance out Galifianakis' over the top performance with the rest of the characters. It feels like everyone is part of the movie and that they are not only there to react to Zach's shenanigans. Jeong was incredibly loud and funny but also over the top. Thankfully, he's not there for too long and he doesn't end up being completely unbearable. I also liked the small cameo by Paul Giamatti. He's one of those people that can play the real asshole really well even though he doesn't have the look for it.
I would have liked to have seen the filmmakers throw some curveballs and not just do the same movie but in Thailand. There are some things that worked well for the movie. The scenes with Stu's soon to be father in law who really hates his guts and he doesn't really care that anyone knows about it.
The big scene at the end was funny for a bit (something you might or might not be expecting) but not as awesome as the most awesomest wedding band ever.
Now THAT is a way to get married!
So, in the end, I can't possibly give this movie a higher score than the first one. The first one was fresh and new and this one at times feels like a re-hash, but The Hangover Part II is funny, crass, disgusting and all those bad things some critics shun. But the movie is a great buddy movie and its a worthy sequel.
7 out of 10
7 out of 10
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