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 shoe again. Instead, I'll tell you
about this bloody awful film I watched. 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 toThailand ,
and then marry his beautiful young fiancé, Lauren (Jamie Chung), in front of
his friends and her family.
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
At first, things appeared to be going just fine all in all.
Granted, Laurens Dad took a disliking to Stu, and Stu's pal, Alan (Zach
Galifianakis) took a disliking to Laurens 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.
You see, after a night of drunken debauchery, the guys find
themselves in a definite situation type situation the following morn. 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 amongst 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 there all the same. It's Laurens 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 police
station - to tattoo parlor - to monastery - and finally to night-club. And at
each and every lo-cal 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 a underworld crime lord, Kingsley (Paul
Giamatti), whom 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
intoxification. 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 - its over to you pal!
THE REVIEW:
Now I find there is pithy conversation in 'The Hangover 2'
that sums it up quite nicely. Teddy asks Stu "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 is taken out of context. But by in 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 the 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 an adventure story,
with a blatant pretext, a singular though line, and characters that are very
archetypal in that Americana type matter.
Well - come on - lets 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 humour - that was especially great at the beginning
of the flick. Next, I have to give praise to the very talented monkey - well,
no film can go wrong with a puffing primate, can it? (Tim Burtons '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 to it.
Oh! And all of the actors did do a swell job too - all of
them adding a communal charm that did help this silly story along on it's 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
THE HANGOVER 2
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
March 29, 2012
Rating: