HANGOVER PART 2, THE
(director/writer: Todd Phillips; screenwriters: Craig Mazin/Scot Armstrong; cinematographer: Lawrence Sher; editors: Mike Sale/Debra Neil-Fisher; music: Christophe Beck; cast: Bradley Cooper (Phil), Justin Bartha (Doug), Zach Galifianakis (Alan Garner), Jamie Chung (Lauren), Mason Lee (Teddy),Ken Jeong (Mr. Chow), Aroon Seeboonruang(Monk),Mike Tyson (Himself), Ed Helms (Stu), Jeffrey Tambor(Sid Garner), Paul Giamatti (Kingsley), Nick Cassavetes (Tattoo Joe),Bryan Callen(Samir), Nirut Sirichanya(Fohn, Father of Lauren), Michael Berry Jr.(Vladi), Andrew Howard (Nikolai); Runtime: 103; MPAA Rating: R; producer: Dan Goldberg/Todd Phillips; Warner Brothers Pictures; 2011)
“Same deal as the original.“
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Same deal as the original, that asks: “Can this really be happening again?” The remake, meant to give the public what it wants, loses freshness, but the raunchy gags are probably still just as funny if you are a fan. Director Todd Phillips (“The Hangover”/”Due Date”/”Old School”)switches locations from Las Vegas to Bangkok.WritersPhillips, Craig Mazin and Scot Armstrong(two new writers)have nerdy nice guy dentist Stu (Ed Helms)this time instead of marrying a stripper marrying a sweet Thai-American girl Lauren (Jamie Chung), with the wedding in her parents’ home country in Thailand in a posh resort. Best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Doug (Justin Bartha) are invited, who are two regular fun-loving guys. Reluctantly Stu invites Doug’s obnoxious oddball brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis), a trouble-making menace who lives at home as a man-child of privilege.
In Thailand, on their first night, the boys have a beer at a campfire on the beach and wake up the next morning in a dumpy hotel room in Bangkok not remembering a thing. The bride’s genius 16-year-old cello prodigy and pre-med student innocent brother Teddy (Mason Lee) is missing (except for his Stanford ring finger found on the table), Alan’s head has been shaved, Stu has a facial tattoo like the tribal one Mike Tyson sports, and a monkey is now in their possession.The boys try to locate Teddy in Bangkok by going over clues found on them, while anxious not to alarm the wedding party waiting in Thailand. They revisit where they were last night, as soon as those locations are discovered. In their misadventures, they encounter a monk on a vow of silence, two dangerous Russian drug dealers,discover their monkey is used to carry drugs, meet an angry Arab sex-club owner andgun dealer, atransvestite hooker who had a mind-blowing experience with Stu, a jive talking and cocaine snorting international criminal Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) adds to their problems, a car chase for the boys through the streets of Bangkok adds some more familiar excitement and some dodgy dealings with the mysterious menacing businessman Kingsley (Paul Giamatti) adds another tinge of danger.
If you liked the first version and its inspired lunacy, this one is the same but without any surprises. I didn’t like the first one and see no reason to like this one, which serves the same rancid gags reheated to taste the same.
REVIEWED ON 5/29/2011 GRADE: C+ https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/