The Hangover: Part II

During my all day marathon of being a couch potato this past Sunday, I threw on The Hangover: Part II. Why? Listen, I’ve already agreed to not move from my living room all day, so clearly logic was not something running through my head at the time or else my brain would have stopped me from paying to see the same damn movie twice. Yes – for all of those who have yet to see this one – this movie is precisely the same as the last one only with the addition of happy little monkey.

Now, unless you were living under a rock this summer then you probably saw this blockbuster’s trailer. It summarizes the premise thusly: This time around, the Wolf Pack is in Thailand celebrating Ed Helms’ wedding and the gang – while trying to keep things quiet – accidentally go off too hard and wake up in Bangkok a mess with no recollection of what’s happened the night before. Oh, and is there anyone missing this time around? You betcha. The bride’s 16-year-old brother is nowhere to be found except for his severed finger. Now everyone is in a scuffle to find out where this guy is and if they can make it to the wedding in time.

Let’s just say this. The movie did very little to encourage any laughs. In fact, the funniest part of the whole thing are the credits where we see all those raunchy photos of the night in questions. (Yes! Just like in the prequel!) It's just such a replication of the first film, it's astonishing. Now, I know all scripts in Hollywood go through dozens upon dozens of rewrites before they head into production (and then even during), but, in all seriousness, this guy could have been cracked out over a long weekend. There's literally nothing new except for the location, which barely plays a role in the movie itself. Many times while the characters are in search of their friend, people warn them that if they don't find him soon then "Bangkok has him" giving the impression the city has a whole seedy underworld of its own that we'll be introduced to later. But, no. Nothing outside a reckless bar fight and visiting a Buddhist temple (I hope I'm right assuming the temple was Buddhist... Thailand? Buddhism? Yeah, I think those go together) reflects city at all. With that being the only seed for originality in this movie, they blew it.

All that aside, I have to express the worst part of this movie. The one little scene that made me freak out because it was so unbelievably impossible. End of the movie. The guys find the brother-in-law (trapped in an elevator overnight during a power outage) and are racing back to the wedding on a speed boat. Right when the strict, uptight father of the bride is clearing out the guests and canceling the wedding, our heroes barreling in on their boat to save the day. To provide a little context for this character (the father) he hates Ed Helms because he thinks he's a wuss, and loves his son who he's risen to be a master cello player and a teenage MD student at Stanford. Right, so Helms jumps off the boats and immediately goes into this whole spiel about how he's a badass and he loves this guy's daughter and if he doesn't respect that then he can go fuck himself. Now, mind you he's just looked over his beat-up son and seen one of his ring fingers is missing. (NOTE: You're not going to be a very successful doctor or musician when missing an appendage. Especially a fucking finger!) However, the father puts all this aside and gives Helms this smirk meaning "you're all right, fella." WTF! I'm sorry, but I can't believe that guy (an ultra-wealthy Thai businessman) wouldn't have just hired some hitmen to take him out in 12 hours time - he basically fucked over his son's life and is now in possession of his daughter to ruin for all eternity. I would like to believe this is the case, stopping all chances of a third movie, but I'm pretty sure I've already heard buzz for a Part III in the works. Ugh.