THE HANGOVER 2

You're my mate, you are! Yeah! You! Come over here and have another drink with me, will ya? Come on! I promise that I won't be sick in your shoes again. Instead, I'll tell you about this bloody awful film I watched. The one directed by Todd Phillips; and starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Paul Giamatti. It was made in 2011, and lasted for 95-minutes.


The Hangover Part II


THE STORY:
It was supposed to be such a joyous occasion. Dr. Stuart Price (Ed Helms) was going to travel to Thailand and then marry his beautiful young fiancé, Lauren (Jamie Chung), in front of his friends and her family. 

At first, things appeared to be going just fine. Granted, Laurens's Dad took a disliking to Stu, and Stu's pal, Alan (Zach Galifianakis), took a disliking to Laurens's brother, Teddy, (Mason Lee). Still, Stu's other pal, Phil (Bradley Cooper), said that everything should turn out alright in the end. So he can't be wrong, can he?

Yes. Yes, he can. 

You see, after a night of drunken debauchery, the following morning the guys find themselves in a whole heap of trouble. For a start, they all wake up in an abandoned apartment somewhere in Bangkok, and none of them can remember how they got there, or what happened to them the night before. Also, Stu has a tattoo on his face, Alan has had all his hair shaved off, and Phil finds a monkey among them as well.

Oh! And on top of that, one of them is missing.

No, not their gangster friend, Leslie (Ken Jeong). He's there - dead by drugs - but they're all the same. It's Laurens's brother, Teddy. He's nowhere to be seen.

Now obviously upset about Teddy's disappearance, all the guys try their best to retrace their previous night's steps, just to track him down again. Granted, in a somewhat muddled fashion, this ploy takes them from a police station, to a tattoo parlor, to a monastery, and finally, to a nightclub. And at each and every location they visit, they all just about manage to figure out what they did that eventful night.

However, they still cannot find any trace of Teddy! Well, that is until they are confronted by an underworld crime lord, Kingsley (Paul Giamatti), who tells them that he has kidnapped Teddy, and will only return him to them if he speaks to Leslie.

But wait a minute! Isn't Leslie dead?

No.

He only appeared to be dead, due to his state of intoxication. Therefore, that is why what next transpires is a right roller coaster ride of an adventure in itself! As monkeys save the day - turn around is fair play - friends help with a fray - and weddings are eventful come what may.

Mike Tyson - it's over to you pal!

THE REVIEW:

Now I find there is a pithy conversation in 'The Hangover 2' that sums it up quite nicely. Teddy asks Stum "What happened to my finger?", and in turn, Stu replies back to him with, "It was stolen by a monkey who couriers drugs".  

OK, I know that this little tête-à-tête may sound rather weird when it's taken out of context. But by and large, this is the type of tone that this comedy adventure does convey. Weirder still, is that I have not seen the first installment of this film yet, but that is not to say that I have not seen it's like before. 

You see, in essence, this movie is what I would call a formulaic movie of times past. It has a comradeship element in it, which is somewhat reminiscent of other 'brat-house' films like 'Superbad', 'Animal House', and 'The Whoopee Boys'. It has the whole fish out of water scenario in it, which is similar tonally to films like 'Rush Hour 3', 'Quigley Down Under', and 'Big'. Plus it has that whole silly favour to it also, one which can be seen in films like 'Porkeys' and 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'.

Please note, I am not trying to imply that this film is cr* in any way shape or form, or that it is too yawn-some in its execution. Oh no! Rather, I find that 'The Hangover 2' is a play-it-by-the-numbers type of adventure story, with a blatant pretext, a singular through-line, and characters that are very archetypal in that Americana type matter.

Well, come on, let's face it! All of the characters in this film could have easily been stripped out of 'Superbad'! You have the bad-mouthed podgy one - the skinny nerdy one - and the other good-looking one that all of the girls fancy. Fair enough, all of these guys are a lot older than the character in 'Superbad'. But still, that is not to say that they do not share the same 'communal energy'!

However, to juxtapose my critical stance for a moment, I did feel that this film had quite a lot going for it at the same time. For a start, I enjoyed some of the vocal humor - that was especially great at the beginning of the flick. Next, I have to give some praise to the very talented monkey - well, no film can go wrong with a puffing primate, can it? (Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes' maybe?) After that, I would have to say that I did like Mike Tyson's cameo in this movie - even though he cannot sing for sh*t. And finally, I did enjoy how the film played out like a perverse and drunken version of 'Columbo' - particularly the whole investigative aspect of it.

Oh! And all of the actors did a swell job too - all of them adding a communal charm that did help this silly story along on its jovial tracks.

So all in all 'The Hangover 2' is not a bad-bad film really! If anything, it is a tried and tested film that has archetypal characters, a simple plot line, and an overall panache that harks back to yesteryear.

Not bad - so I best watch the first one now, shouldn't I? Or else the monkey might get me.

THE RATING: B