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.
Also on Bradley Cooper
Case 39 starring Renee Zellweger, Bradley Cooper, Ian McShane and Jodelle Ferland
The Hangover starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha
Wedding Crashers feat. Cooper, Vince Vaugh, Owen Wilson & Rachel McAdams
Alias TV Series starring Jennifer Garner, Michael Vartan and Bradley Cooper
Also on Zach Galifianakis:
Due Date starring Robert Downey Jr. & Zach Galifianakis
Bored to Death starring Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis
The Hangover starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha