The Hangover Part 2 (2011)
Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on May 26, 2011 @ tonymacklin.net.
Some movies try to solve the mystery of life. The Hangover Part 2 only tries to solve the mystery of the binge. It reaches that easily reachable bar.
The Hangover Part 2 is a ballsy, balls-up trip to nether regions that will delight some, entertain many, and offend a few. Some of us will shrug.
The Hangover Part 2 is like American Wedding [American Pie 3] in that it should please its target audience because it has a memorable raunchy sequence.
It has an outrageous bit that will be talked about as was the hair "gel" in There's Something About Mary (1998) and the "chocolate" in American Wedding (2003). A wild sequence should give The Hangover Part 2 its notoriety.
The Hangover Part 2 takes the intrepid quartet of buddies to Thailand where Stu (Ed Helms) is going to get married to his Thai fiancee (Jamie Chung), whose father thinks he is a weakling.
Because of the incorrigible Alan (Zach Galifianakas), Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu wake up in a sleazy hotel room in Bangkok. Stu's 16-year old, prospective brother-in-law Teddy (Mason Lee) was with them, but is now missing.
Stu has a fresh tattoo on his cheek, but nobody remembers anything. So the buzzed trio goes off on a search after memory and Teddy.
The Hangover Part 2 probably comes down to one actor. If you think Zach Galifianakas is a hilarious off-the-wall comic, you'll like The Hangover Part 2. If you think Zach's character is a dumb slob, you probably won't.
For me, Zach Galifianakas is the Dr. Pepper of comedy -- a taste I've never acquired.
Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms keep The Hangover Part 2 somewhat grounded, but Ken Jeong as Chow is back with his fingernails-on-blackboard acting.
The script by Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong, and director Todd Phillips builds up to one clever line about demon seed when Stu faces his prospective father-in-law near the end.
But much of the writing -- such as an allusion to the Jonas Brothers -- is just simpleminded. Lazy writing is a staple of this genre.
Gimmicks -- e.g., a monkey who smokes -- are, too. Let's offend PETA. That's courageous.
I'm sure Todd et al. high-fived each other when they set The Hangover Part 2 in Bangkok. Tee-hee.
The Hangover Part 3 probably will be set in Uranus.
