The Hangover broke out of nowhere and propelled Zach Galifianakis (Birdman), along with Bradley Cooper (Limitless) and the other stag do posse into the mainstream. It made over $400 million worldwide, so it was sort of inevitable for a sequel to come along. However, while The Hangover 2 has a lot of really funny moments, it is ultimately a bit of a letdown with a lack of overall quality and more than a few low points.
The story starts with Stu (Ed Helms) planning for his marriage to his new Thai bride – Heather Graham’s character inexplicable out of the picture. The wedding is set to be in a beach backdrop Thai island paradise, but the addition of Alan to the wedding guest list leads to the inevitable mayhem. Waking up a wreck, Stu with a tattoo on his face and Alan his head shaved to the scalp, they realise that they have lost Stu’s 16 year old brother in law and so starts a plot that is just a little too close to that of the original.
Galifianakis and Cooper are the two saviours of the film. Ed Helm is OK, but becomes terrible towards the end. Chow (Ken Jeong) is back and while he has his moments he loses his sheen pretty quickly, making him a low point of the film at times with one too many bad lines mixed in with the laughs. However, the worst acting goes to the bride to be and her younger brother, who’s wooden, surplus to requirements presence in the centre of the film hits a cringing note.
There’s also an unnecessary adversarial tone to the film, like it’s USA vs. distant Asian parts to be trampled under shock and awe bombing treatment. Lines similar to, “we took on Bangkok and we won” and “American beers [because native beer would be week and puny]” are a bit of cliche. There’s a commercial feel to the film too with more than a few shameless product placements, which is always annoying to see, especially in a film that’s as highly anticipated as this was.
It’s a shame really, because The Hangover 2 feels like it was a couple of rewrites shy of being the finished article. It’s let down by 5 or 6 bad lines, the occasional poor acting (casting of new characters is not the best) and a plot that has “convenient” written all over it. The film may well be massively funny in parts, but it’s ultimately flawed nonetheless.
The Hangover 2 review: 3.1/5
