We made a pact, Wolfpack only.
Rating: 2/10
Running Time: 102 minutes
US Certificate: R UK Certificate: 15
After The Hangover became a surprise comedy hit with an Oscar nomination to boot, it’s inevitable sequel was always going to be hotly anticipated however Todd Phillips, as promised by the ominous trailer, has delivered a complete re-run of part one with no hint of doing anything new and original.
The sequel sees the setting and story transplanted to Bangkok. Stu (Helms) is getting married and the boys decide to go to the Sin City of South East Asia for a seemingly civilised bachelor party ? stop me when any of it sounds familiar. Of course, things don’t go to plan and Stu, Alan (Galifianikis) and Phil (Cooper) wake up after a wild night unable to remember what debauched deeds they got up to and where in this vast city the bride’s brother Teddy (Lee) is.
Never in human history has a film showed such a lack of imagination. Every step of the way there are a thousand nods to the original and most of the scenes are just take offs of part one. Todd Phillips has used gritty morning scenes of Bangkok to replace those of Las Vegas, an angry comedy boss is in the form of Giamatti rather than Jeong (also starting in a revised role of course), a monkey instead of a tiger and a baby, a new disappointing star cameo that I am not going to spoil here and even the exact same lines are recycled. An increased screen presence is given to the wackier character of Stu and the ladies’ choice of Phil, and Alan receives a total personality transplant leaving the group dynamic lacking a little likeability and variety.
I’m not sure whether it is because I have seen it all before or because the jokes are lamer and settings not as memorable but I barely laughed throughout the movie. Unless we discover a time machine in the near future, this film will never be viewed in a vacuum therefore will always be seen as a pointless exercise and vastly inferior film to The Hangover. Additionally, it’s one of those films where it looks like they had much more fun making in than you have watching it ? akin to Ocean’s Twelve and Sex and the City 2 (interestingly both sequels themselves). Don’t bother going to the cinema to watch this, go rent The Hangover instead.
It's Got: Everything that the original has
It Needs: Originality, a point to its existence
Summary
A remake rather than a sequel, Part II is lacking in any riotous humour and comes across as a completely pointless and infuriatingly unoriginal addition to the fantastic sleeper hit that was The Hangover.