Wow, this is a weekend that needs to be written into the history books. On one hand, you have the most polarizing yet original film of the year, fresh with a Palme D'Or win, released into limited markets. On the Hollywood hand, you have two big sequels to previous critical and commercial hit films that are one hundred percent badly cloned. Did Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Todd Phillips wanted to out-pretentious Gus Van Sant and Michael Haneke by making a unnecessary remake as an elaborate joke on audiences? Don't these two know that the textbook example of a sequel is not to be taken seriously?
THE HANGOVER: PART II is, like KUNG FU PANDA 2, the exact same thing as the original. All the beats, all the twists, all the elaborate gags. It feels more like you are watching the special Thailand version of the first film, similar to the two different 1931 productions of DRACULA. Except now we have a monkey as a cast member, which according to Hollywood tradition shows that the creators really belittle your mentality.
It is now Ed Helms' Stu to have a wedding and have the return of the Wolfpack. Instead of enjoying a simple bachelor brunch, Stu is peer-pressured into at least having a small gathering on the Thai beach. One beer and a time-lapsed shot of Bangkok later, the "three best friends that anyone can have" experience yet another blackout and another missing person to locate. Instead of it being Doug, who left the party early, they lose Teddy, Stu's future brother-in-law and the golden child of his father-in-law. As you expect, they try to figure what happened last night and find Teddy before the wedding.
I really want to just spoil the mystery but, since you obviously saw the first one, you can easily just spot the final location. Todd Phillips and his co-screenwriters didn't waste any chance to just redo what once was made. Instead of being a laugh-riot, it is just a homework assignment, an essay on the gullibility of Hollywood products. There could have been a few curveballs, like the return appearances of Rachael Harris and Heather Graham as surprise wedding guests, but then the overall non-originality would be threatened.
Though I hated the repeated plot and film structure, the film isn't a giant wave of pure stupidity. The three lead actors do still have good chemistry together and try to make the effort of enduring the film worthwhile. Ken Jeong is more of the standout as the returning Leslie Chow, whose nature as a playful playboy comes off more than the true evil lurking inside. Paul Giamatti also has show-stealing duty in a nice cameo as a black market dealer. Also, a later car chase scene is actually very good, a nice break from the rest of the film.
It's these type of releases that are strictly only for home video viewings. The stakes are a bit raised but they truly ring hollow. Still, the film does show off a sense of dread and despair for the guys despite all the easy-to-make transgender jokes and overall white peril plot. Maybe when the expected finale is made, the alcoholism and debauchery are finally victorious over these men's souls.
FINAL REVIEW: 2 / 5
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