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Vol. LXV, No. 22
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Wednesday, June 1, 2011
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Vol. LXV, No. 22
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Wednesday, June 1, 2011
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For more movie summaries, see Kam’s Kapsules.
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A couple of years ago, in The Hangover, the four buddies of the Wolf Pack were driving to Las Vegas to throw Doug (Justin Bartha) a bachelor party. However, they got far more than they bargained for when they awoke in a trashed hotel room the following morning with the groom missing, and unable to recall what had happened the night before.
However, after a zany series of adventures, and with just hours until the wedding, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) found their pal in time for him to get married.
In The Hangover Part II it’s Stu’s turn to get married to Lauren (Jamie Chung), who is from Thailand which is where the wedding will take place. So, the Wolf Pack reunites there for an even crazier bachelor party in Bangkok.
Directed by Todd Phillips, the sequel resurrects the original film’s storyline almost to a fault. This time the guys end up with amnesia after sneaking off to partake in a pre-marital male-bonding ritual.
The plot has been tweaked slightly to have the bride’s teenage brother, Teddy (Mason Lee), disappear instead of the groom. Doug also gets separated from the others, leaving it up to Phil, Stu, and Alan to search for the bride’s brother in a frenetic race against time. Along the way they run into some of the same characters they encountered in the original film, such as Mike Tyson and the shady con man Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong).
When all is said and done, Hangover 2 triggers fewer laughs-per-minute than the original. Just remember to check your brain at the box office as you enter the theater.
Very Good (3 stars). Rated R for violence, nudity, profanity, drug use, and graphic sexuality. Running time: 102 minutes. Distributor: Warner Brothers.
For more movie summaries, see Kam’s Kapsules.