Sequels have always been a risky business in Hollywood. Let's get one thing straight: the primary reasoning for producing sequels has and always will be the allure of big box-office green. Regardless of whether or not the original was good or bad, if it made bank, producers leap at the opportunity for even bigger bucks.
But therein lies the problem: if it's almost a surefire bet that fans of the original will flock back, will it matter if the sequel's any good? Sure, some filmmakers have made a concerted effort to make their Part Twos (or in rarer cases, Part Threes) bigger, better, and artistically superior to the original in every which way (The Godfather Part II, The Dark Knight, The Empire Strikes Back, to name a few). But unfortunately, most follow-ups pale in comparison to their predecessors, with the studios only throwing in a few novelties and surprises in a lazy attempt to "spice things up" (every single horror sequel that isn't Evil Dead).
And then there are those movies that are SO lazy and sure of their success that they don't even attempt to create a new story at all. Imagine a complete carbon copy of a movie, maybe with a change of scenery and a couple new characters here and there, but with the exact same story structure, twists, and overall formula. Now imagine this sequel to be a follow-up to a movie so clever, original, and cathartic that you wouldn't believe in a million years that the filmmakers wouldn't have at least SOME tricks up their sleeves for the next installment. That movie, my friends, is The Hangover Part II.
It's been a couple years since four friends-- schoolteacher Phil Wenneck (Bradley Cooper), dentist Stu Price (Ed Helms), groom-to-be Doug Billings (Justin Bartha), and his bizarre manchild of a future brother-in-law Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis)-- survived a drug-and-booze fueled bachelor party and hangover in Las Vegas, where (among other things), Doug went missing; Stu lost a tooth and briefly married a stripper; the group kidnapped boxer Mike Tyson's pet tiger; and Alan, Phil, and Stu were caught in the crosshairs of Asian gangster Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong).
Despite all their problems being resolved and Doug getting married, the incident left a rather bad impression on Stu. His impending nuptials to his fiancee Lauren (Jamie Chung) are taking place in her family's home country of Thailand, and though he's invited Phil and Doug to the ceremony, he's reluctant to take Alan along since he was the cause of the escapades in Vegas. But Stu hesitantly agrees to take him with, and the four set out for Thailand along with Jamie's younger brother Teddy (Mason Lee).
The night before the wedding, the guys (at Stu's reluctance) secretly take Teddy out for a night on the town. But the morning after, Stu, Phil, and Alan wake up in a strange Bangkok hotel room, with no idea how they got there. While Doug remained at the wedding resort, the trio have no idea where Teddy's gone. With a severed finger, a drug-peddling monkey, and a fresh new tattoo on Stu's face in the mix, the guys race against the clock to figure out what happened and track down Teddy in the bustling city before the wedding.
When the first Hangover was released in the summer of 2009, it was considered by many (including yours truly) to be a breath of fresh comedic air: a raucous, side-splittingly funny anarchic comedy featuring a trio of terrific lead performances, instantly quotable scenes and sight gags, and an overall aura of nonstop, Animal House-style gross-out fun that seems oh-so-rare in most "humorous" movies nowadays. Budgeted at a mere $35 million, it went on to become not only a critical hit, but also the highest-grossing R-rated comedy in history ($467 million worldwide, to be exact).
And obviously, that's where director Todd Phillips saw opportunity, and fast-tracked a sequel. And he brought back the whole gang, reuniting Cooper, Helms, Galifianakis, and even decided on an exotic change in locale for the "Wolfpack's" latest adventure. The only problem? Nothing's changed. Seriously, nothing has changed.
Even though we're in the streets of Bangkok instead of Vegas, Part II is the exact same movie as the original. There's the impending wedding. There's the drug-caused blackout. Somebody important to the main characters goes missing. Ed Helms' character gets facially mutilated. There's drug dealers, animal hijinks, Ken Jeong doing his effeminate naked gangster bit, unfortunate actions with strippers, an end credits photo highlight reel, the list goes on and on.
It's quite unfortunate, really, that Phillips and screenwriters Scot Armstrong and Craig Mazin didn't take any chances whatsoever with the story, considering how surprisingly original the first film was. The sequel had plenty of potential, especially seeing how the camaraderie between the three leads is still potent, and though there are sprinklings of funny and even shocking moments, the film as a whole feels recycled and lacking in novelty. It doesn't help that the humor in Part II seems more mean-spirited and unnecessarily dark, and almost completely lacking the sense of frathouse joy that permeated the first film.
Being a huge fan of the first Hangover, this new installment felt like a cinematic slap in the face, purely content with more of the same when it could have been so much more. Clearly not the hair of the dog that it was intended to be, The Hangover Part II is one such party that you probably WON'T be fondly remembering after the nausea goes away.
Letter Grade: "D"
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