*I don’t consider the original “Hangover” to be an all-time great comedy. It’s very funny to be sure, but ultimately it’s a bit uneven, especially towards the end. As far as 2009 comedies go I easily preferred the Paul Rudd/Jason Segal vehicle “I Love You, Man.”
The biggest problem with part two is that it completely lacks originality, one of the qualities that made the original so much fun. This isn’t overly surprising as the writers of the original have been replaced here with one of the writers of “Scary Movie 4” & “Superhero Movie” & the other two haven’t penned a decent script since “Old School” in 2003. These three titans of comedy lack creativity to such a degree that the only major shifts they make are moving the festivities to Thailand, giving us a flashback that pointlessly uses 12-year-olds in place of our leads because, you know, seeing middle schoolers drink heavily is hilarious, & upping the raunch to such a degree that instead of laughing I was stuck cringing in my seat. The rest of the movie remains largely the same,** telegraphing where many of the jokes are going, and robbing the viewer of the surprises that made the first so much fun.***
**In place of a tiger we get a monkey this time, & though slightly overused, the monkey provides a couple of the funniest scenes.
***If, like me, you fail to realize where the lost member of their group (this time Stu’s soon to be brother-in-law Teddy) is within the first half hour you’ll feel like a complete idiot when it’s revealed.
