The Hangover: Part II (2011)

Running Time: 101 mins
Directed By: Todd Phillips
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Mike Tyson, Jamie Chung
Screenplay: Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong, Todd Phillips
UK Release Date: 27th May 2011

Quick Plot: Stu is getting married in Thailand and of course needs his best pals, Phil, Alan and Doug at his wedding, vowing not to have a stag night like the one two years ago. This time only a quiet, small, pre wedding brunch. Sounds good right? What happens when they wake up hungover with no sense of what had happen the night before and absent of Stu's future brother-in-law, 16 year old Teddy.

Review: Here's my anecdote of The Hangover. The Hangover was my first ever illegal viewing of a film. At the age of 14, not a lot of people my age had the experience of seeing The Hangover at the cinema and still to this day it's one of my favourite memories of a film. I was wetting myself (ok not literally but I might as well have been) I had never seen a film this funny at the cinema, ever. Everyone around me was in hysterics, laughing so much and even if it makes me out to be such a soppy, pathetic, loser I have to admit- it is one of my favourite cinema experiences (which goes to show how much the cinema means to me.) And to be even more honest, when I first heard about The Hangover getting a sequel I was over the moon and could not wait, especially as The Hangover was the newest and funniest comedy in a while. But then after a while and after re watching the first, I started to have my doubts. Will the sequel be as funny? There was lots of controversy over Todd Phillips' 2010 film, Due Date which also starred Zach Galifiankakis. Personally I thought it was hilarious and just as good as The Hangover but a lot of people said it was flawed. In the past week too, reviewers have said that The Hangover Part II isn't at all funny, instead lame and unneeded.
Last week I upset a few people with my review of Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Strangers Tides. When it wasn't even a bad rating! 3/5 is good, more than 50% and it's worth seeing just a bit of a let down to all the hype that's all. The question is, is The Hangover: Part II a let down? No, not at all. It brings the giggles but that's about it. It's a good film, a really funny film. I was really laughing at most parts and but it's just good. That's the limit to it. It's not the loud out loud, every single line is a joke, some new adventure Hangover everyone hoped it would be. Similarly with Pirates, it has to have some conjunction with the previous film but not every other gag has to be about the last 'hangover'. Sequels that are better than the original such as Back To The Future II, Temple Of Doom,, Terminator 2, Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, The Godfather II, even though are obvious a second film in a series are different and individual from the previous. They don't need lots of back references to make a good film because they can stand alone. The Hangover: Part II couldn't stand alone because of all the back references, it became a drag. So that's one thing I will definitely say to anyone who wants to see this, even though I'm sure you've seen the first film, if you haven't don't bother, you don't need to. I know a lot of people are probably shocked at the 3 stars (even though 3 stars isn't bad! That means I think it was good and I enjoyed it durrrrrrrr) and you have your rights to be disappointed, I guess because this is only my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own opinion I believe. I've already seen a lot of people liking it,  many people have told me they think it's better than the first which is fair and fine. My view is that the first is the better one, 5 stars if I reviewed it now. The first film was different, funny, plot is great, characters all so perfectly hilarious, etc...ok I'm getting sidetracked. Maybe it's because I see a lot of different films, over the years so I have more of a film mind when it comes with "EPIC/MASTERPIECE/FUNNIEST FILM OF YEAR" films. Ok I'm being mean now, I'm stopping..
I'll stop with the bad criticisms now and get onto the stuff I enjoyed; Zach Galifianakis has done the exact thing he did last time round and made Alan the best character of the film. His stupidness, but also smartness, quirky lines and innocence had me in fits because he is so unique. There's the dumb friend in most comedy films, but Alan is different. Non-spoiler review here so I can't tell you the jokes Alan cracks..oh and the crack. Todd Phillips is a real funny guy and he's already made great films anyway but I'm sure his future films will be hilarious. Stu's new 'Doug' type song didn't quite please the audience as much as the original song did but everything else got the audience laughing. Speaking of Doug-I wanted to see more Doug. But my friends made a very good point that he isn't a main member of the wolf pack so I will accept this. Another thing I loved was the monkey, although I'm never really into the whole animals smoking thing.
I'm finding it really hard to talk about the good parts of the film without giving any of the jokes away!
Ok if you're reading this I take it you are planning on seeing the film and you're a fan of the previous one. You will enjoy it, you will laugh, you will cry and you will just love it I promise you. It's funny like it was made out to be. But the first is the better one let's be honest The Hangover was something different and the first will forever remain the best one. But hey, that's my opinion! Hope you like it :)

OH YEAH BEFORE I GO. What happened to the Liam Neeson cameo? I even read an interview with him where he said he was in it. The tattoo guy didn't look like him? OR it was all a joke that everyone didn't fall for apart from me. If anyone knows anything about this, please let me know.


The Hangover: Part II official trailer

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