The Hangover Part II Review

The Hangover Part II Review

Some movies enter main stream culture and demand a sequel.  The Hangover was one of those movies.  Typically the sequels fail to deliver, they fall short of the original or copycat it to the point where it no longer seems fresh. Last summer's Sex in the City 2 and Iron Man 2 both failed to be fresh or new and that was their biggest failures.  Yes they were sucessfull films, and yes they have their fans, but as movies they were just so so sequels.  Luckily The Hangover Part II brilliantly captures the essence of the original while simultaneously remaining fresh and new.

The best explanation I have ever heard for comedy is that comedy is about the unexpected. You sell an audience on one expected or traditional outcome then give them something different. There are moments in this movie when you will know what is coming, the set up, and the delivery are obvious, but because it is so over the top, and because as a conditioned American audience cannot believe that anyone would possibly put such depravity on celluloid you will still be shocked and will still laugh uncontrollably.

Todd Phillips the director, essentially stripped the first movie down to the foundation, and built a new structure using the same floor plan as the original.  Like the old adage ain't says, if it broke don't fix it. The bones and structure of the original are always present but just twisted enough to make us feel like it is a new and unexpected. There are no surprises when it comes to our characters, Phil (Bradley Cooper) is the same frat boy type, who refuses to accept that he is a grown up with real responsibilities. Stu (Ed Helms) is the same panic stricken pessimist with an affinity for exotic dancers/hookers. And of course who can forget clueless, man child, Alan (Zach Galifianakis), who's innocence is only matched by his awkwardness. They all remain the same characters from the first film, and its nice, for once, not to be forced to endure some sort of deeper character development in a sequel.

This time the guys wake up in a flop house somewhere in the middle of Bangkok, with no clue of how they got there, or what happened the night before.  The only thing they do know is that Teddy, the brother of the bride, is missing, and only his finger remains. Of course the big question is how did they allow this to happen again.  Despite taking all of the precautions, including not even having a traditional bachelor party, it does, and the more we find out about what happened the more we laugh.

In plain and simple terms,  The Hangover Part II is a great sequel. It is not a better than original Godfather Part II kind of sequel, but then again, The Hangover isn't exactly the Godfather.  Fans of the original will definitely be happy with this sequel. The Hangover  and can probably expect a third or fourth film in this series. The only question is can our characters survive another hangover?