Sunday 29 May 2011

The Hangover: Part II (2011) - Todd Phillips


The first Hangover film was a surprise.  I'm not normally one for crass lads humour, but it was so bizarrely insane and totally random, I couldn't help but laugh until my stomach couldn't take any more (naked asian man in the boot - need I say more?!).

And now "it's happened again".

Sort of.

You see, recreating this sort of magic is never going to work.  You can never recreate an incredible night out - it relies on spontaneity and luck.  Likewise, Phillips was never going to repeat the success of the first film, except that's exactly what he's tried to do - practically scene for scene. 

Wedding?  Check.
Alcohol and drugs?  Check.
Stolen animal?  Check.
Prostitutes? Check.
Photo replay over the credits?  Check.
Hilarious, crazy asian man?  Plenty.

Sure, it's now in a different city with a slightly different plot, but it sticks stoically to the original formula.  It's lazy and disappointing.  Ok, so it's still laugh-out-loud funny in many places and undoubtedly a highly entertaining film.  But that's largely due to its similarities with the first film.  Somewhere along the way, they lost the magic.  Yet somehow this time it comes as no surprise...

2/5