When The Hangover Part II was greenlit for a sequel before the first one had even opened in theaters, we knew that we were in for something good with The Hangover. It was no surprise when The Hangover became the highest grossing R-rated comedy. Was it funny? Definitely. Was it original? Yes. Did we need a sequel? Sure. Why not. It was funny enough. Seeing the same set of guys goes through a similar experience would be a little repetitious, but still funny. Would you want to watch them go through the EXACT SAME THINGS again? No. I’d rather stay home and watch the original on Blu-ray, saving myself at least eight bucks – which is exactly what you should do.
The plot descriptions for The Hangover and Part II are exactly the same. Phil (Bradley Cooper, Limitless) calls Tracy (Sasha Barrese, Let Me In) to tell her they effed up and the wedding wont happen. Jump back a few days. Phil, Stu (Ed Helms, Cedar Rapids) and Doug (Justin Bartha, National Treasure) don’t want to bring Doug’s socially-retarded brother-in-law Allen (Zach Galifianakis, It’s Kind of a Funny Story) with them on a “guys only” adventure, but are coaxed into it. Hip hop music plays as we see them traveling. Four guys are accidentally drugged at the bachelor party two nights before a wedding. They wake up not knowing what happened the night before. An out-of-place animal is their room. Stu is physically deformed. A key figure in the wedding party is missing. They set off to find him, searching for clues that will piece together what happened the night before. A tiny Chinese man (Ken Jeong, Community) with a tiny penis hidden in a large bush of pubic hair springs on them. The animal in their hotel room must be returned. Stu randomly sings a funny song about the situation. What really happened that night? Turns out Allen accidentally drugged them; Stu fell for a stripper; they broke into private property and kidnapped a living being; and the missing person is being held ransom for money, so the gang must come up with a lot of money. Upon delivering the money, the bad guy doesn’t really have the missing person. The missing person was really trapped in the hotel all along. The foursome races to make it to the wedding on time. Somewhere along the way Mike Tyson makes a cameo. A camera is found that contains photos revealing the events of that lost night. A slideshow plays during the credits that fills in the gaps. Presumably, the unrated Blu-ray will contain “more pictures from the missing camera.”
The writers, director and producers of Part II should be ashamed. No effort whatsoever was put into Part II. Had Part II not been fast-tracked and co-written by
the guys who wrote the latter Scary Movies, The Heartbreak Kid,
Superhero Movie and Starsky & Hutch, it surely would have been much
better than it is. The original writers should be paid as if they wrote
this one. The screenplay used for Part II is nothing more than a
fill-in-the-blank ad-lid of the first script.
missing. A(n) __________ (animal) is found in their hotel room. Stu has a __________________ (unusual
facial feature). Chinese guy with a tiny penis jumps out of a ________________ (object
sealed by a large door).
Ridiculously unbelievable instances constantly occur that are only written in to tie the sequel in with the first, to give the story convenience to the story or to shock the audience. For example, Phil calls Tracy again at the opening of the movie to tell her that “this time [they] really [effed] up.” Except this time, Tracy is not the bride-to-be – Lauren (Jamie Chung, Sucker Punch) is. Why isn’t Phil
calling Lauren instead of
Doug’s wife? Because that’s what happened in the first movie.
although none of them want to bring him, the gang is coaxed into taking Allen because Allen’s dad (Jeffrey Tambor, Arrested Development) is offering to pay for the bachelor party – yet Allen’s dad only pays for a wedding gift. Why did they bother mentioning that at all? Because there is no other way that they guys would bother bringing Allen along on another trip and Part II wouldn’t be a Hangover sequel without Allen.
The stripped that Stu falls for and has sex with is actually a hermaphrodite that he allows to give him anal sex. Why would any perfectly straight male allow a she-male to sodomize him? Because the writers of Part II aren’t creative enough to come up with their own original jokes and gags, so they go for Brüno‘s style of “shock comedy.” I didn’t want to go there content-wise, but it was the only way to show just how stupid this movie is.
The Hangover Part II is easily the most unoriginal sequel ever made. Not only does it rely almost entirely on the jokes from the first film, but every new gag and joke they try falls flat. There is more to R-rated comedy than constantly showing penis.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
