The sophomoric man-children are back in their most screwed up adventure yet, trading the glam of Vegas for the poverty stricken Thailand. With it comes a wealth of new dangers and potential for sick, depraved situations that would only be funny in a film like this....but funny they absolutely are. Even if the road traveled is a familiar one, the jokes fly just as fast and they are almost just as antic as ever. Only now there are 100% more monkeys.
For a bunch of guys with the maturity level of a adolescent, the Wolfpack is getting married off quick, and you'd think by now the potential groom would no better than to invite any of his supposed buds to the proceedings. This time it's closeted dentist, Stu(Ed Helms) who has apparently gotten over his fling with the hooker(no Heather Graham this time) and settled on the much younger Lauren(Jamie Chung). She wants to get married in her homeland of Thailand, and despite his well-placed concerns, Stu invites pent up party animal Phil(Bradley Cooper), insane "stay at home son" Alan(Zach Galifianakis), and the responsible Doug(poor misused Justin Bartha) along for the trip. What's the definition of insanity again? Oh yeah, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
The decision is an instant disaster. Alan takes an immediate disliking to Lauren's teen genius younger brother, Teddy(Mason Lee). Lauren's strict, overbearing father openly compares Stu to bland rice mush. Looking to relax for just a moment, the gang settles for a single beer out on the beach....and you know the rest. Instead of waking up in a posh hotel, the gang rises in a booze filled fog in a stank, sweltering hovel somewhere in Bangkok. No tigers this time, at least. But there is a monkey. A misguided Mike Tyson tattoo. And there old pal Leslie(Ken Jeong). How the heck did he get all the way to Bangkok? And where the heck did Teddy disappear to? With the wedding only about a day away it's up to the gang to find Lauren's little bro in time.
The best part of The Hangover wasn't necessarily the comedic bits, it was the piecing of the puzzle. Stumbling around with the gang as the jigsaw of their frenzied evening comes together, as they realize the scope of their bizarre partying. Bombed out night clubs, liquor loving monks, violent Buddhists(??!?), and Paul Giamatti as an international crimelord only make up a fraction of the insanity. We haven't even gotten to Stu's run in with yet another hooker and the decidedly different turn this encounter takes.
Kicking along at the same frantic pace as the first film, you'll probably find yourself shushing the people around so that you don't miss the rapid fire buffoonery. The only drawback is that there are too many instances where the script by Phillips, Scot Armstrong, and Craig Mazin doesn't take chances even when the perfect opportunities arise. Changing the locale by such a drastic degree should've made this a fundamentally different story, but this could have been any big city in the world. While some of the humor may work a second time, some of the plot points that are retread just feel like lazy writing.
What is an absolute home run are the performances by Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis. While others will praise Galifianakis as the breakout from the last film, for me it was Helms who really rose to the occasion this time. He proved to be a credible comedic force earlier this year in Cedar Rapids
, but The Hangover is a totally different monster. His Stu is the focal point for most of the hijinks this time, and whether it's his reaction to the disastrous tattoo or his response to one of Alan's idiotic statements, he's simply priceless. For all the buzz surrounding the numerous cameos to be made in the film, the results aren't all that memorable. Liam Neeson's cameo was replaced by filmmaker Nick Cassavetes, who most people won't recognize. Mike Tyson of course had to show up, but it's when and how that knock you flat-footed. The biggest surprise comes from Ken Jeong, an actor best in measured doses but has some of the film's biggest laughs in a much beefier role.The Hangover Part II isn't as randomly chaotic as the first, but there has to be something said for any franchise that pushes the limits of taste as far as this. Speaking of which, since the aim is to make this a trilogy, what can Todd Phillips and Co. possibly do to top this? Will the guys wake up on the moon in a drunken stupor? Whatever the case, the Wolfpack can have another round on me anytime.
