Thursday, May 26, 2011

Review: The Hangover Part II

Just got back from seeing The Hangover Part II (and subsequently missing the end of that epic 19 inning Phillies game where Wilson Valdez got the win), and figured I'd give my review.  Spoiler free, if you're worried.

If you couldn't already tell from the trailer, the plot of The Hangover Part II is nearly identical to The Hangover's plot.  For most movies this would mean box office bust, but not for this one.  Set in Bangkok instead of Vegas, the Wolfpack gets drugged, spends a wild night partying, and loses Stu's fiance's brother Teddy instead of Doug.  They wake up in a random hotel room again, and have no idea what happened the night before.  They try to figure out what happened once again, all the while trying to find Teddy.

Part II has its share of violence, probably more than the previous installment.  Of course, it's always unexpected as we find out what's going on the same time as the characters.  The unexpectedness is part of what makes the films so good, in my opinion.  Even though my predictions were almost always wrong it's fun to guess, and crazy to see what they actually came up with.

Chow plays a much bigger role this time around, not only in screen time but also in importance.  I felt like his involvement (thanks to Alan) was a little forced at first, but it ended up making some sense in the end (and allowed for a great cameo by Paul Giammati).  Brian Callen makes a return appearance, but not as the same character from The Hangover.  Mike Tyson also returns in a surprise performance.  But perhaps the best actor in the entire movie was the monkey.  Seriously.

I do have to say that the sequel was much much raunchier, even more than the unrated edition of the first.  I saw enough penis to last me quite a while.  That being said, most of it wasn't just thrown in there for no reason, and it usually set up for a funny joke/scene.  Speaking of the jokes, they were spot on just like before.  Zach Galifianakis as Alan was hilarious again; I'm glad he played the role just as well.  The foul language obviously makes a return, but it's rarely just cursing for the sake of cursing.  Not to mention you shouldn't see this movie if you're worried about that kind of thing anyway.

All in all, The Hangover Part II was exactly as advertised; raunchy, hilarious, exciting, and fun.  I'm trying not to compare it to The Hangover too much, as I'd have to see it again to have a fair judgment.  After just the one viewing, however, it was pretty much on par with the first.  A little bit more "out there" or over the top, but I feel they had to do that in order to keep it fresh and different enough.  If The Hangover was a 10/10, The Hangover Part II would be around an 8.75/10 as of now.  I'd say that's pretty damn good, considering the plots were virtually the same.  This would doom most movies, but not this one.  It holds up tremendously well, and will certainly go down as one of the funniest films of the year.  Do yourself a favor and go see it.  It'll be a good time, guaranteed.

-Also, the trailer for "Horrible Bosses" (with Charlie Day from "Always Sunny") looks like another funny movie worth seeing.

-During the scene in Alan's bedroom, there was a poster of "Macho Man" Randy Savage featured fairly prominently.  He died only about a week ago, so there was no way they could have done this on purpose.  Eery coincidence?

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