THE HANGOVER PART II
RYAN: I had relatively low expectations for The Hangover Part II because it looked like just a rehashing of the original. And that’s exactly what it turned out to be.
CAROLINE: I would argue that this movie didn’t really need a sequel. The first one was quite funny and they should have just left well enough alone. I remember laughing out loud a lot at the original, but for the sequel I think I laughed maybe 4 times. That’s just not enough.
RYAN: The entire cast is back including Bradley Cooper, who I really like and is arguably the best actor in the movie, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Zach Galifianakis and the Asian guy, Ken Jeong.
CAROLINE: The main problem with this movie, aside from it being not that funny, is that its plot is identical to the first movie. It’s the same movie in a different setting – Thailand instead of Vegas. The antics are all the same; someone goes missing, they can’t remember the night before, they only have a few hours to figure it out before the wedding, etc.
RYAN: Totally. And instead of missing a tooth, Ed Helms has a face tattoo. And instead of a baby, there’s a monkey. It really does a disservice to the sequel; they could have at least come up with a semi-original idea. Either these characters aren’t strong enough to carry a second movie, or the writing was just weak this time around.
CAROLINE: Call me crazy, but a movie like this should make me howl with laughter. This one felt a little bit dark, which is fine; but then it should be a good black comedy like the far superior Very Bad Things, another bachelor party movie from years ago.
RYAN: This can’t even compare to the hilarious Bridesmaids, which had several laugh out loud moments as well as some touching scenes. You can strike a balance in a movie like this, but The Hangover Part II didn’t manage to do that. It’s neither hilarious nor poignant.
CAROLINE: Plus it took forever to get off the ground. For the first 20 to 30 minutes I was like, “OK, when is something going to happen!?”
RYAN: I was so bored that I actually went to get refreshments during the film. And then you took a pee break.
CAROLINE: I know, and we never do that! Normally I hate to miss even one minute of a movie, but I so didn’t care during this one. There’s a decent car chase sequence but it’s also kind of silly. I like the cast overall, but I never felt connected to the characters.
RYAN: The monkey is cute but I could have done without the monkey violence.
CAROLINE: And then at the end, they do the exact same thing as the first movie with the photo montage during the credits; so uninspired. And the montage wasn’t funny so much as gross.
RYAN: Get ready for a lot of full frontal male nudity, folks. It’s not sexy, and it’s almost kind of shocking since we so rarely see that in movies; except ones starring Sacha Baron Cohen.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ I didn’t hear a ton of laughter going on in the audience during this movie, unlike the first one, where everyone was dying.
RYAN: Honestly, I think you have to be kind of dumb to enjoy this movie.
— BOTTOM LINE —
RYAN: The movie certainly has a few funny moments. I wasn’t bored out of my mind, and it wasn’t a total waste of time, but I wouldn’t recommend paying $13 to see it in the theater. You can wait till it’s on TV.
CAROLINE: The cast makes it fun to watch but the script and story are weak. If you’re going to make a sequel, make it a sequel, not just a re-tread of the first one. I was underwhelmed. I’m sure people will come out in droves to see it, but you should all go in with low expectations.
— RATING —
