The original Hangover was an unexpected hit in 2009. It told the story of a bachelor party gone wrong, where the groom couldn’t be found anymore and where no one remembered what happened the night before.
The crazy characters, like the socially awkward Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and gangster Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), the unexpected cameo by Mike Tyson and the strange situations the men ended up in resulted in a movie which people remembered and told others about. To me The Hangover was one the best comedies that came out in the last couple of years. It’s no surprise that a sequel would be made, but can The Hangover Part II outdo the original or is it actually the moviegoer that has a hangover after seeing it?
To immediately answer that question: If you have seen the original, then you’ve also seen this movie. This movie remixes the original with almost the exact same story (some scenes are almost identical) and only changes its setting to Bangkok. Of course you would think that more of the same can only be a good thing, which was my thought as well before seeing it. The reality, however, is different.
It seems that making this movie someone forgot to add some comedy to the mix. Because you’ve already seen so many crazy things happening in the original all the things that happen now don’t feel fresh and shocking. It’s a movie without any real surprises. Instead of a baby there now is a monkey, instead of the groom they lose the brother of the bride, instead of a missing tooth there is a face tattoo and I could go on for a while. It’s the same characters that experience almost the exact same thing, it’s a movie that seems to have been made by using a ctrl-c/ctrl-v approach with a replace all mixed in. Other things should have happened to other characters, but no chances were taken.
I was a big fan of the original and laughed a lot. With this movie this just wasn’t the case. I almost felt I had to laugh just because I wanted to have the same fun I had as with the original. I didn’t however as the comedy just didn’t approach the same level of the original. If you want to see more of The Hangover my advice would be to watch the original again and forget that there’s a second part. I left the cinema with a big hangover as part II was a big disappointment.
Score: 4
Going to see this today and like you I desperately want to like it as I am such a big fan of the first one.
Out of interest do you think if you havent seen the first one that the impession of this one would be a lot better?
That’s a difficult question. A lot of things reference the first movie and if you don’t know the characters you would miss out a bit. It might be a bit better, but I doubt I would be a lot as the jokes are just not as funny as they were in the first one. Really interested in your opinion of it after you’ve seen it.
Oh no 🙁
I was hoping to see this today but will probably check it out later in the week, looking forward to it despite how disappointed you were. I’m hoping that enough time has lapsed since I saw the first one that I’ve kind of forgotten the jokes and will enjoy it.. wishful thinking perhaps!
As with all movies you should watch it yourself to form your own opinion about it. There are tons of movies that some people love and others hate. Let me know what you think of it after you’ve seen.
People flocked to see this and loved it. That’s when you can really that big disconnect between critics and the general movie-goer.
Despite reading the reviews in advance I did go out and watched it, so I can understand why people go and see it. They loved the first one so much that they don’t expect it to be bad. I was left disappointed, but can understand that a lot of them won’t be.
What’s missing is a huge part of what made the first film so good: the element of surprise and the actual joy of having all these crazy situations happen. This is a It’s a dark and morbid cash-in and nothing more, except with some chuckles. Good review, check out mine when you can!
I’ve been reading your reviews regularly as I’ve got a subscription to your site. Will check out your review.
Well, the filmmakers obviously doesn’t want to mess up with their winning formula for the sequel. Which is why THE HANGOVER PART II is more of the same. Still the movie manages to be a fun experience to watch for. Good review though. You can check out mine at http://caseymoviemania.blogspot.com/2011/05/hangover-part-ii-2011.html 🙂
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