After the success of The Hangover, the comedy hit starring Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis continues with the second installment, The Hangover: Part II.
Comedy aficionados will not soon forget The Hangover, which was a hugely surprising hit and featured some hilarious scenes with Mike Tyson (and his Sumatran tiger) as a guest cameo star.
In the sequel, The Hangover: Part II, international man of mystery as well as of strange underworld connections, Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), is back with the boys as they end up in Bangkok just hours before Stu’s wedding, which takes place in a south Thailand resort isle (the location is the Ritz-Carlton, Phulay Bay near Krabi).
It does require a bit of suspended reality here, as Bangkok is actually not reachable by boat from Krabi and certainly not in the hour or so that the film shows, but, as with any other feel-good film, suspended reality is what most people actually desire. Advice: just go with it.
Jamie Chung, who is on the cover of the June edition of Prestige Indonesia magazine, looks fabulous as Stu’s bride-to-be, but her annoying father, who plays a PC-challenged quintessential over-protective parent, is a bit too much of a bad cliché and just sort of unnecessary.
Actually, there are lots of bad clichés throughout, but in some ways, that’s what makes it what it is. Make no mistake, they weren’t remaking The Tempest or Citizen Kane, they were remaking a slapstick comedy about a bunch of guys who get completely off their heads and get more than a bit loopy in a big party city – last time it was Vegas, this time it’s Bangkok.
Directed by Todd Phillips (Due Date), the comedy retains the original lineup of comic gold from the first installment: Bradley Cooper (The A-Team) as Phil Wenneck, Zach Galifianakis (It’s Kind of a Funny Story) portraying Alan Garner, Ed Helms as Stu Price, and Justin Bartha (National Treasure) as Doug Billings.
They made a valiant attempt, but it was always going to be an almighty task to top the laughs, surprise-factor and freshness of the first one, but don’t let that put you off. It is fun regardless, something along the lines of the saying “… even a ‘bad’ pizza is still darn good (relative to most other food choices).”
Oh and Tyson does an encore this time, singing “One Night in Bangkok,” which is good for a few cringe-worthy chuckles. Paul Giamatti also adds a little kick to the show.
Here’s the official trailer for The Hangover: Part II, courtesy of YouTube:
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