Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong, Todd Phillips
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Mason Lee
SYNOPSIS: Phil, Doug and Alan fly to Thailand to attend Stu's wedding. Innocent beers around a beach bonfire lead to another blackout involving fires, tattoos, prostitutes, monks, a monkey and a missing brother of the bride-to-be.
Director Todd Phillips returns to helm another raunchy blackout adventure with his favorite wolf pack members. Upping the game with a wedding taking place in an exotic locale, Stu, Phil and Alan take the same constructs from the wildly successful original and twist them right round, baby! It's like how John McClane managed to get embroiled in another terrorist conspiracy just by showing up somewhere around Christmas! The story doesn't seem like it would work again, but Phillips and crew bring all the filthy and hardcore goodness home again.
Replace a missing tooth with a freshly drawn tattoo, a missing Doug with a missing Teddy, and Mr. Chow with Mr. Chow, then throw in a smoking monkey in a Rolling Stones emblazoned denim vest and you have a comedy sequel that will leave you laughing so hard you will cry. And if you thought that you saw everything the first time around, surprises are definitely in store.
What makes The Hangover Part II so unique is its dirty phallic Memento style that keeps the audience equally engrossed and grossed out. Part II also adds in adrenaline with guns, chases, gangsters that make Mr. Chow a tame criminal imitator, bitches! Even the references to the first film are funny. When Phil calls Doug's wife to tell her "it's happened again", you can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Bradley Cooper's Phil tries desperately to keep calm and collected in the face of chaos, his piercing eyes blazing when not hidden behind amber sunglasses. Zach Galifianakis' Alan is more a child then ever this time out, clued in and clueless in equal parts. Ed Helms' Stu really takes center stage this time in Thailand, though, fighting against all of the warning signs that lead to a repeat of a certain previous Las Vegas bachelor party that was immortalized on a digital camera. Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) is given a wider role, manic and unpredictable as ever.
The Hangover Part II throws caution to the wind this time around, knowing that to top the original one needed to instill the best components of the first and amp up everything else. And although Las Vegas does not make an appearance in the sequel, its Lady Luck follows the wolf pack in spades.
WORTH: Friday Night Opening and DVD
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