"The Hangover 2" Review

    Everyone knows and understands the notion of “What happens in Vegas, stays in
Vegas”. This phrase encapsulates the whole idea behind Sin City and gives everyone the
idea that this brightly lit desert oasis is a place specifically meant for behaving badly and
burning shit down. If you follow this simple “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” mantra then no one
ever needs to know that you killed a hooker (excuse me, Working Lady) while septum-
deep in a pile of Bolivian marching powder. It’s Vegas, baby!


   While I myself have never been to Vegas, I have heard more than a few amazing
and equally horrifying stories involving booze, massive and miniscule amounts of
money, drugs and hookers (not necessarily in that order), I’ve always wanted to go
simply to experience that sort of thing for myself. Maybe everyone just needs a three day
coke and whores bender. Perhaps it’s part of growing up.

   Sadly, most of us won’t get to experience such things. Maybe you’ll go to Vegas
with visions of terrible, offensive and sin-stuffed activities, but you’ll probably end up
shoulder to shoulder with chain smoking, phlegm spewing grandmothers at the slot
machines, loosing your money one quarter at a time while they tell you about their buck-
tooothed spelling bee champion grandson.

   When The Hangover came out in 2009, people completely lost it. Finally, a story
of what actually could happen to you in Vegas! People began saying to themselves “Holy
shit, would I get beaten by a naked Chinese man after seeing Heather Graham’s tit,
drugging Mike Tyson’s tiger and stealing a cop car if I went to Vegas?!?!?!”

   Well, ok, maybe not EVERYONE had that exact same thought pattern, but it
was the general idea. The Hangover was a huge success, making more money than
anyone expected and cementing the film as one of the best comedies of the decade. But
now we get to ask ourselves a few questions: What will Hollywood do now? How will
they continue to capitalize on this phenomenon? Will they make an unnecessary sequel
that literally uses the same jokes as the first? Psssshhh, ‘course they will. Who are we
kidding?

   The Hangover 2, starring Ed Helms, Brad Cooper and Zach Galifianakis (my spell
check just killed itself) is almost an exact copy of the first film. Take the entire original
plot of The Hangover (waking up in a hotel room and following zany and whacky clues)
and almost all of the same characters, transport it to Bangkok, swap out the missing
preppy white guy for a missing 16 year old genius prodigy and change which character is
getting married this time and you have the entire plot of The Hangover 2. I am not even
joking. I don’t know if this is lazy writing or capitalizing on their previous success, but
The Hangover 2 is simply the same story with slight variation and a coke-mule monkey
(yup, you read that right and we’ll get to it soon).

   When it comes down to it one could say The Hangover 2 is one long, drawn out
reference to the first film. Many, many jokes are replicated and there are more than a few
moments where you’ll find yourself saying “didn’t they do that in first movie?” such as
the way they wake up, the fact that they were all drugged by Allen again, using clues to
find their missing friend, run-ins with the police and drug lords and awful, awful singing
from Mike Tyson.

   While the film definitely suffers from being a long rehash of the first film
there are also plenty of new jokes. Ed Helms (by far my favorite member of the Wolf
Pack) is the one getting married this time around and actually leads the cast in some
of the funniest moments in the film. Seeing Helms sporting Mike Tyson’s face tattoo
throughout the film never got old and his encounter with a lady-boy (duh, it’s Bangkok)
stripper had me dying in the theater.

   Galifianakis returns as Allen, the potentially insane buffoon who ruined the first
trip. Even though Stu (Helms) makes it clear he doesn’t want Allen coming (Stu is so
afraid of being drugged again that he covers his glass of OJ with a napkin while they’re
in an IHOP), he’s inevitably drug in to the ring and begins acting even stranger and more
socially awkward than in the first film. Galifianakis is, of course, given the best lines and
delivers them perfectly. One scene, in which Allen starts to make a high pitched whining
sound while crying, is great and his on-screen interactions with the coke-mule monkey
make for a few good jokes. There’s also a flashback scene where Allen remembers parts
of the night but envisions his friends as 10-year-old versions of themselves. Watching a
fat middle schooler chugging whisky and doing lines of blow is pretty good.

   I don’t really have anything to write about Brad Cooper. His character, Phil, exists
simply so that there’s a pretty face attached to all of this and for Galifianakis to bounce
jokes off him. He brings nothing to the table except for getting shot, which made me
laugh.

   Other members of The Hangover make appearances. Ken Jeong returns as Mr.
Chow, the loud mouthed and flamboyant criminal from the first film. His character
is fleshed out and given more backstory and his first scene in the film is great. Bryan
Callen, who played Eddie, the owner of the drive through wedding chapel, returns as a
different character that runs the lady-boy bar in Bangkok.

   Paul Giamatti makes a short and ultimately useless cameo in the film as a villain.
He could have been used more and brought deeper in to the script, but he’s only there to
read lines and threaten the Wolf Pack. A sad misuse of one of the funniest and best actors
out there.

   And so we come to the best character in The Hangover 2, Coke-Mule Monkey
(played by Crystal the monkey who obviously has a better agent than I do). When the
gang wakes up in the hotel room, they find the monkey, complete with tiny pants and a
sleeveless denim Rolling Stones jacket. The monkey is quickly adopted by Allen (like the
baby Tyler in the first film) and becomes a big part of several jokes, including blow jobs
and name games.

   The monkey is eventually revealed to have been stolen from Russian drug runners
who use the monkey to hand off cocaine, thereby keeping their hands clean. Mr. Chow
refers to it as a “fucking genius” idea, which is the prefect descriptor. The monkey is also
depicted as a chain smoker and seeing a tiny monkey light, smoke and put out its own
cigarettes made me happy, but I’m also 12 years old and easily amused.

   So, beyond the excessive faults and the fact that this film is such a rip off of the
first Hangover that it should sue itself, The Hangover 2 is probably still worth seeing for
a good laugh. The fresh jokes are very funny and even most of the re-done or slightly
changed jokes are still funny. Simply put, if you liked the first one then you’ll be able
to tolerate and probably laugh a little at the second one, though you’ll walk out thinking
the first was better and imagining just how awesome your life would be if you had a
monkey. I know I sure did. The Hangover 2 did a quick chop job on the original, took
out the funniest parts, stuck them in were they seemed most appropriate and raised the
raunchiness while loosing the feel of the first film.

   Granted, such things don’t always matter. American wants its funny and it wants
its funny now! The Hangover 2 made $200 million on its opening weekend, setting
holiday records and packing theaters….which means that Hollywood will demand a third.
Do you think it’s possible to redo a script that was already copied from another script?
Would it be a reference inside a reference inside a reference? My god…. We could have
a comedic version of Inception heading towards us. HIDE THE CHILDREN!

2.5 out of 5 Smilin’ Abes


Review written by Angry Movie Nerd
Writer, Editor, Nerd and Head Pancake Batter Mixer