The Hangover Part II - Movie Review.

The Hangover Part II - Movie Review

When I first heard they were making a sequel to The Hangover, I immediately thought 'cash grab'. Is this the type of movie that needs a remake? When it comes to comedies, you usually get one good movie and then all the sequels just aren't as good. I've always thought of a good comedy as catching lightning in a bottle. Sometiems it happens, but most of the time you just get electrocuted. Anyway, I see that they are doing a sequel and I think they are just going to redo the first movie and try to make a bunch of money off us.

Is Part II as good as the first film? Definitely not! Is it funny? Sure it is! It laughed out loud several times. It's way over the top and some of that is what works about it. It's raunchy and that usually works for me when done well. I think this does it well for the most part.

However, it's like they just took all the elements from the first film, and just replaced it with something slightly different. Instead of a baby, you have a monk that can't talk. The tiger is replace with a monkey. A missing tooth, is replaced with a missing finger. It's like they just tried to one up everything from the first movie. It's trying too hard.

My problem with The Hangover Part II isn't so much that it's just a retread of the first film, or that it tries to go over the top of the first film. It's because there's no real surprise to it. Remember how you watched the first Hangover and so many of the elements were funny simply because they were just so out of nowhere? Just a total shock and surprise? In this movie, everything seems telegraphed. Again, I'm not saying it isn't funny, but you just see everything coming. Like when they do the inevitable photo montage at the end, you just keep waiting for the picture that shocks you because you know it's coming. That takes some of the fun out of it.

Plus, Zack Galifianakis' character bugged me a bit. I'm just having difficulty believing the character. He's just so insane. I get that it's part of the movie, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to hang out with this guy for more than 10 minutes. This is the guy that you invite because you have to, and then ditch him the second you get a chance. Anyway, it just kind of bugged me. It worked for the first film, but this time it felt like too much.

The irony is that this review probably reads as largely negative, but I actually enjoyed it for the most part and would recommend it if you're a fan of the first film. If you didn't like the first film, then you really won't like this one.

See it matinee, preferably with a large crowd.