The Hangover Part II (7/10)

"Bangkok has him now", I'd say it has us too. "The Hangover 2" is the sequel we all knew would be made. The first was well... the biggest movie in years. Remember the hype when it came out. Everyone was talking about it, it's the highest grossing R rated comedy ever, and the catchphrases were a hit. It made over $400 million in the box office and would have made $500 million if you count kids sneaking in. To quote Alan, the most uncool person ever, was the cool thing to do. Audiences ate it up, critics were shocked and raved about it, and is now a cult classic. So only two years later we got a sequel which is more or less made just like the first.

So Stu (Ed Helms) is getting married to Lauren (Jaime Chung) and the wedding is in Thailand. Phil (Bradley Cooper, the guy is going to be top dog in hollywood soon) and Doug (Justin Bartha) are going. Alan (Zach Galifianakis, the funniest yet again) is not invited. It makes perfect sense, they guy is weird, creepy, babyish, and caused Stu the worst day of his life (but we still love him). Alan is a "stay at home son" which is perfect. I'd watch a movie just about home ordering his mom around over intercom. Well anyway Alan will get invited and all will head to Thailand. So the four and Lauren's brother Teddy have a beer on the beach to celebrate. Phil, Stu, and Alan wake up in a filthy Bangkok hotel room (pretty nice sized room for Bangkok though). Well "it" happened again and Teddy is missing. So once again the three must retrace the heinous and insane things they did the night before to find him. 

The movie is good, but there's things to consider as well. Fans of the first will enjoy the movie, but will leave not feeling the same. I laughed a lot, there are some great thing here, but it's just hard to compare it to the original. I can't judge it as a stand alone movie because it's hard to forget this is not the first time we've seen these beloved characters. So to think of it alone would mean the crazy things Alan does are strange and not as hilarious as it is with comparison. For those who have seen this, think his crying scene, it's funnier because we love his character. I didn't have the big goofy grin by film's end as I did with the first. There was a smile, but it wasn't as captivating. The jokes are more less interchangeable with the first. It's like they mad lib'd the script to make the sequel. I know many that thought the first was a let down on a rewatch, this one is probably worse. It's a good movie, but damn if they couldn't live up to it's original. I say enjoy it for what it is, A decent comedy with great characters, I sure as hell did.

7/10

Recommendation: It's funny and I loved see the Wolfpack back, I can see fans of the first divided on this. Some liking it for what it is and others saying it's a failure to the first (It's not)
Personal Favorite Joke: Bag of Fanta