'The Hangover: Part II' Review

Three guys get wasted and wake up with no clue where they’re at, what happened, or where they’re friend is at. That’s the plot of the first film and the plot for ‘The Hangover: Part II’. The movie stars Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, and Bradley Cooper reprising their roles as “The three best friends that anyone can have.” The film is also again partially written and directed by Todd Phillips, which may have been some of the problem here.

Right off the bat I want to point out that this movie was funny, not hilarious, but funny. It doesn’t hold a candle to the first one and will probably be forgotten and only mentioned as the “meh” sequel to a classic movie.

The problem here is that it’s the exact same movie. No really it is. There are a few differences, such as location and a few new jokes, but it’s not enough. Everything that made the first film a classic is redone here and not redone very well. You always know what’s coming next and that’s really a problem because there’s not really that mystery about what the hell went on the night before. Also, and I admit this is minor, but for this to be the sequel were everything should be bigger and better, it seems a bit tamer. Their night just wasn’t as wild and crazy as it was the first time around. This may have a lot to do with knowing pretty much exactly what’s going to happen, but it still didn’t help the film any.

Another place were the movie really dropped the ball was filming in Bangkok. This could’ve been exactly what this movie needed, a place crazier than the location of the first film. Problem is, they don’t take advantage of it. I feel like they could’ve done this movie anywhere and it wouldn’t have changed anything, in fact, if they change just one part of the movie, it could’ve taken place in Vegas again and no one would know the difference. It just goes back, to this being a tamer rip off of the first film. They just really needed to go all out here and they didn’t.

All in all this movie will make you laugh, but by skipping it you’re not missing out on anything that the first one didn’t already give you. This movie is a solid rental. I do not recommend spending all the money that a movie ticket cost to see this, just throw it on your Netflix queue or pick it up from Redbox once it’s out.