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The Hangover Part 2 starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis & Justin Bartha

The Plot – with spoilers for the first movie

This time Doug (Justin Bartha) – the groom-to-be that the “wolfpack” Alan (Zach Galifianakis), Stu (Ed Helms) and Phil (Bradley Cooper) lost (in The Hangover), is a happily married man. It has been two years since the ultimate Vegas adventure where the gang had got roofied, ended up waking with a severe memory loss, minus a groom, minus a teeth (from Stu), plus a tiger, and plus a baby Moreover Stu had gotten married to the mother of the baby, a beautiful prostitute (played by Heather Graham).

Somehow, they had made it to the wedding.

This time Stu is getting married in Thailand, to a beautiful Thai bride. Having learned his lesson, he is vehemently against a traditional bachelor party. Despite Phil’s objections, Phil, Stu, Alan (despite a very unwilling Stu), Doug and the 16 year-old, Harvard pre-med Teddy -Stu’s brother-in-law-to-be- (Mason Lee) fly to Thailand and meet the girls. The problem is, Alan has absolutely hated Teddy. But Stu naively thinks everything is in control, since there won’t be a party. But Phil talks him into having one drink at the beach. One beer can’t hurt right?

But the next day, Phil wakes up on the floor of a dodgy hotel room. Alan’s head was shaven and Phil has a ridiculous tattoo on his face. There is no sign of Doug, and they find a finger with a Harvard ring on it. There is also a weird monkey in the room. They can’t remember anything and Stu is about to have a heart attack over what might have happened to Teddy. Oh, and they find Chow -the ridiculous guy from the first movie (Ken Jeong). What the hell are they going to do now?

They establish that Doug is safe and sound at the hotel, so it is up to the three of them to re-track their actions from last night, find Teddy, deal with Chow and Chow’s enemies, the havoc they caused in Bangkok streets, monks and more…

Is it a match for The Hangover?

Writing a good comedy is really hard. Writing a comedy such as The Hangover is even harder. I laughed my butt off through the entire movie, and I don’t usually like it when things get crude (except maybe when Todd Philips writes it). So undeniably, my expectations were high. While I had a good time at the theater last night, I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t get any laughing cramps.

Now, the movie is entertaining. I am not going to say I didn’t have any fun. I liked the references made to the first movie. “It has happened again…”, “The roof!”. The drug dealing, smoking monkey was fun to watch. Watching the gang being beaten by a monk was funny. But…. The magic wasn’t just there this time. It was cruder, darker and this time Zach Galifianakis annoyed me most of the time. And am I the only one who thinks Stu definitely needs some therapy?

It is definitely watchable. It is just not that great.

Currently 7.0/10 on IMDB. I give it a 5.0. If I don’t compare it to the first, it gets a 6.0.

Favorite Scenes (Minor Spoilers)!

– When Chow “dies”, and how they deal with it.

– The entire chase scene where Chow drives.

– Parking of the speed boat

– Stu’s song.

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The Hangover starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis. Also starring Justin Bartha and Heather Graham. Directed by Todd Phillips. Image via abrilosojos.com

I really have to see this movie again. Not too soon, but after I forgot some of the jokes. I don’t know why a friend of mine said this film wasn’t that funny: I was laughing my butt off during the entire movie.

I like Bradley Cooper. I have been watching him act since Alias (2001-2006). The first role I had seen him was of a very nice guy. He played the best friend to Jennifer Garner‘s Sydney. Then I saw him as the ultimate asshole in the Wedding Crashers that gave hell to Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson’s characters. His roles haven’t exactly been very difficult or diverse but he is believable and fun to watch whether he is a nice guy or the jackass. He has given the performance that his roles required him too. In The Hangover, he is neither a sweetheart like his Alias character Will Tippin nor a psycho. He is a nice guy at school- he is a school teacher. And with friends, he is the ultimate party animal who is never shy of speaking his opinion or making fun of his friends.

The plot gives enough potential for a good time: The groom-to-be Doug (Justin Bartha), Doug’s future wife’s wacky brother Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug’s two oldest best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms). Phil is married with a kid and there’s no way he is going to miss a bachelor party in Las Vegas. Stu has been with his dominating, bitchy and controlling girlfriend for 3 years and though he is planning to marry her, he is also more than glad to be in Vegas whereas she thinks he is in Napa Valley. Alan is….Alan is a hilarious sight to look at. He is not normal and not very predictable, to say the very least. Doug seems like the most normal man among them. He is ready to commit and is happy to be getting married, despise Phil’s ranting about how awful marriage is. So they get on the car Doug’s father-in-law gives him they head out.

It all starts harmlessly but funnily enough. They get dressed, have drinks and go out. The movie cuts to the morning after. The room has been thrashed, there is a hem walking around, there are women leaving and when Alan goes to the bathroom there is real,life-size tiger waiting for him! In a panic he wakes Phil up. They are all suffering from the worst hangover, and worst of all Doug is nowhere to be seen. There is a baby in a closet and no one can recall anything!

So they put they heads together and try to trace their steps back. Three best-men and no groom!

When the movie finished, my stomach was hurting from laughing too hard. While the concept of a Vegas bachelor party gone awry is not original, what happens to the guys are. Another interesting thing about their story is that we don’t know what happened and they don’t know what happened. Every piece of the puzzle is more entertaining than the one before. Of course it is below the belt, crude and sometimes well…the movie takes it too far but it doesn’t matter in he end ’cause you just had a blast watching it! One of the funniest movies I have ever seen.

END NOTE: The movie was written and directed by Todd Phillips who also co-wrote and directed Old School and Road Trip. Road Trip was OK, and Old School was really funny. However I think I prefer Hangover. See it.

The Hangover by Todd Phillips with Bradley Cooper — The Hangover: The baby belongs to a woman who....Nah, I am not gonna say it. Just know that his mother is played by the gorgeous actress Heather Graham.

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