We now embrace the movie industry’s dependency on sequels and history shows us that there are three possible outcomes. The first is that bold choices and strong, forward storytelling will prevail (The Dark Knight). The second is the urge to take it all the way up to 11 and watch it crumble under it’s own weighty expectations (Transformers 2). The last option is to attempt to create an exact replica of the original and hope that the audience will happily embrace it once more. The Hangover Part 2 has decided upon the latter.
It’s been 2 years since the Wolfpack’s hilarious Las Vegas bachelor party and now it’s time for Stu (Helms) to take to the aisle. But it wont be that easy with best buds Phil (Cooper) and Alan (Galifianakis). Needless to say they enjoy a harmless drop of hooch and wind up in a seedy hotel room with intoxicated mayhem about to catch up with them. The most obvious alteration is the film’s setting. Instead of Sin City, the ‘pack are stuck in the lesser glamorous Bangkok. If you have ever seen a Bangkok episode of MTV’s Dirty Sanchez then you may already be aware of the shenanigans that could possibly occur. If not it may involve bar brawls, body mutilation and a ’special’ lapdancer packing more than dollar bills in her G-String. All of the original cast are back once again to supply the laughs which they succeed in confidently. Cooper is cocky and cool as usual as the unofficial leader of the pack, while Helms – being the groom in question – takes the added responsibilty with gusto. The wildcard however is still Zach G with his portrayal of tag-along brother in law Alan. A confident low key performance which only just lets us in to Alan’s warped and fragile sense of the world. The problem I have with this film is not the humour, or the plot, but the lack of imagination that comes with it. Director Todd Phillips has literally copied and pasted his previous work, deleted the words ‘Funny Tiger’ and ‘Vegas’ and inserted ‘Amusing Monkey’ and ‘Thailand’. Often we see reviews that utter the line ‘If you enjoyed….then you will love this’. Never has that line been more apt than now; if you enjoyed The Hangover then you’ll love The Hangover Part 2….because IT’S THE SAME FILM! American Pie is an example case in point as the sequel was a carbon copy of the previous film that exploded on our screens as the modern day Porky’s. Don’t get me wrong, I laughed a large proportion of my ass off during my early afternoon showing. The scenes where Alan’s jealously towards Stu’s future brother-in-law are hilarious as is the new addition to the Wolfpack, a talented monkey who has his paw in many of the city’s vices. The supporting cast and occasional cameo was also welcome but part of me wondered how good the rumoured Mel Gibson tattooist role could have been if things had took a different path. It’s clear that money was spent on making this as epic as possible. As is the law with films on location, there are many obligatory helicopter shots of the beautiful terrain to prove to the accountant that they actually went there, and also an amped-up Bangkok car chase to use the change left over. For the best experience possible, go to the main evening performance so you can get extra laughs. My schoolboy error resulted in a viewing with myself and eight other people, three of whom were over the age of 65 and were shocked at the sight of a monkey pleasuring a banana. So to sum up, there is still a Hangover future but for me, the feeling is starting to wear off.
It’s been 2 years since the Wolfpack’s hilarious Las Vegas bachelor party and now it’s time for Stu (Helms) to take to the aisle. But it wont be that easy with best buds Phil (Cooper) and Alan (Galifianakis). Needless to say they enjoy a harmless drop of hooch and wind up in a seedy hotel room with intoxicated mayhem about to catch up with them. The most obvious alteration is the film’s setting. Instead of Sin City, the ‘pack are stuck in the lesser glamorous Bangkok. If you have ever seen a Bangkok episode of MTV’s Dirty Sanchez then you may already be aware of the shenanigans that could possibly occur. If not it may involve bar brawls, body mutilation and a ’special’ lapdancer packing more than dollar bills in her G-String. All of the original cast are back once again to supply the laughs which they succeed in confidently. Cooper is cocky and cool as usual as the unofficial leader of the pack, while Helms – being the groom in question – takes the added responsibilty with gusto. The wildcard however is still Zach G with his portrayal of tag-along brother in law Alan. A confident low key performance which only just lets us in to Alan’s warped and fragile sense of the world. The problem I have with this film is not the humour, or the plot, but the lack of imagination that comes with it. Director Todd Phillips has literally copied and pasted his previous work, deleted the words ‘Funny Tiger’ and ‘Vegas’ and inserted ‘Amusing Monkey’ and ‘Thailand’. Often we see reviews that utter the line ‘If you enjoyed….then you will love this’. Never has that line been more apt than now; if you enjoyed The Hangover then you’ll love The Hangover Part 2….because IT’S THE SAME FILM! American Pie is an example case in point as the sequel was a carbon copy of the previous film that exploded on our screens as the modern day Porky’s. Don’t get me wrong, I laughed a large proportion of my ass off during my early afternoon showing. The scenes where Alan’s jealously towards Stu’s future brother-in-law are hilarious as is the new addition to the Wolfpack, a talented monkey who has his paw in many of the city’s vices. The supporting cast and occasional cameo was also welcome but part of me wondered how good the rumoured Mel Gibson tattooist role could have been if things had took a different path. It’s clear that money was spent on making this as epic as possible. As is the law with films on location, there are many obligatory helicopter shots of the beautiful terrain to prove to the accountant that they actually went there, and also an amped-up Bangkok car chase to use the change left over. For the best experience possible, go to the main evening performance so you can get extra laughs. My schoolboy error resulted in a viewing with myself and eight other people, three of whom were over the age of 65 and were shocked at the sight of a monkey pleasuring a banana. So to sum up, there is still a Hangover future but for me, the feeling is starting to wear off.
7 out of 10
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