Blame it on the ah-ah-ah

THE HANGOVER PART II (2011)

I admit I’m not the target audience for a movie like The Hangover. This is not my kind of humor. Especially not this sequel, which is tedious, boring and an exercise in flippancy. I never wanted Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) to return in the first place but I still tried to put my knives back in as I entered the theater. I did not want to hate this movie. But I did. I did not find it funny or engaging in the least. For me, Road Trip (2000) was funnier than both of these movies combined, directed by Todd Phillips as well.

 Firstly, I must note I laughed only 5 times or 6 maybe, in the first film. Part Deux had me laughing only thrice. Once when Alan cries after Chow falls fake-dead and second time when Stu is going hysterical after Phil gets shot. That’s it. Oh yes I chuckled when Alan said Stu and rice. But I wouldn’t call that laughing. The only redeeming factor in these two movies, for me, is Ed Helms. Stu’s character is the only character I like, who is not one-dimensional and is actually funny. (He’s exceptionally awesome in The Office as well)

Secondly, I must note that I hate Alan. I know I am being a tad hypocritical, since 2 out of three times, I did laugh at his expense (carefully chosen word). I find him the most annoying, irrevocably infuriating character in recent moviedom. He is obviously modeled after Del Griffith (John Candy) from Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), the king of road trip movies. But Del was interesting and empathetic; Alan is not interesting in the least. If I knew a person like him in reality, I would literally incinerate him. I would never, and I mean never, be friends with a person like that abomination to humanity. He is one of those few cases which do not make me wish my life was a movie.

This brings me to the whole point of the Hangover movies. Honestly, if I wanted to know how fun it is to get drunk and not remember anything the next day I would do it myself! Watching a movie on debauchery is not that much fun I'm afraid. The whole point of movies is to show heightened reality. Here it fails. Now, this movie, the sequel. (sigh) Even a 10 year old would know how to write a better sequel. People return to a blockbuster because they want more of what they had the first time. By more, they DO want more. Not the same thing. When I saw Star Wars (1977) I was awestruck, but the second one, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) blew me away with its twist. It took my awestruck-ness and turned it on its head. It was like okay you liked the first one, fine, but you ain’t seein’ nothin’ yet! Terminator (1984). Awesome. Second one, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), he’s a good guy now!? Wham! Home run! Batman Begins (2005), Batman is realistic! A comic book movie with brains! Second one,The Dark Knight (2008), we have the Joker! Need I say more?

Yes okay, it’s fair if you do want the same thing. I order the same soup in a Chinese restaurant a gazillion times because hell I love that soup. We all love familiar spaces. If you liked the first movie and you want the same thing, you will like this movie.

But I don’t even like the first film, why would I order seconds? They literally have copy pasted the structure and the plot points of the first movie. They have Phil, Stu and Alan waking up somewhere not knowing what happened, same happens here. Alan drugged them, Alan drugged them again. Doug was getting married, now Stu is getting married. They had to find Doug, now they have to find Teddy. Chow was in the first one, Chow is in the second one. Tiger was in the first one, monkey is in the second one. Stu sings an unfunny song; Stu sings an unfunny song again! They showed the pictures in the end credits, they show the pictures in the end credits here too! I was thinking what did they miss in the checklist, oh yes, Mike Tyson! And guess what, Mike Tyson shows up too!!! (If you think that was a spoiler, you and I can never be friends, sorry).

I mean, could you get more unimaginative and lazy than that? To top all of this, they waste Paul Giamatti (he played Kingsley, oh my my that ridiculous cop sub plot!), a gifted comedic actor.

If you watch Kung Fu Panda 2 and Hangover 2 and not find the former funnier, it’s time you understand why I don’t return your calls. (Don’t even get me started on the racist version of Bangkok)

Rating: * ½ out of *****