film review: The Hangover part II (2011)

It’s been so long since I’d written anything here I had to wonder if I was actually going to remember the password. Turns out I did. All is not lost folks, I am back to give you my many apparently unpopular (if my recent stints on Cinerama have taught me anything) opinions.

I’ve decided to reopen the reviews with The Hangover part II. I’ve seen a lot of harsh reviews against it and I’m here to tell you… don’t listen to those naysayers. If you liked The Hangover, you should like The Hangover part II. It is by no means a tired boring old sequel where they get everything wrong.

Now, ok. Even I have to admit. It’s not the most original of movies. It’s pretty much the first film except it’s set in Thailand. Which is fine by me. To be honest, I don’t see how they could have improved on the first. Which is not to say I was a massive fan of the first. I liked it. I thought it was funny. I think exactly the same about this one. I like it. I think it’s funny.

I just don’t see where they could go from there. I suppose they could try and make it wackier, but I think that would be step too far… I don’t really think these actors have the talent for wacky. Bradley Cooper is no Leslie Nielsen or Steve Martin… Nah. It wouldn’t work…

So what we have is essentially a re-hash of the first. Which, in my mind, is good news.

Seriously.

I’ve seen many many sequels that try to do exactly the same thing as the original and completely and utterly fail. I’ve also seen sequels that do exactly the same thing as the original, just that the original was nothing anyone wanted to see in the first place. (I’m looking at you PA2). This is a sequel that’s exactly as good as the first. This is indeed a rare beast.

Hmm… oddly enough I kinda feel like I’m doing some sort of disservice to film reviewing here… championing a film that’s ostensibly cashing in on a previous film. But you know what? I genuinely don’t think that’s a problem for once.

The movie reviewing realm would generally have you believe that originality is always best and sequels should always add something to the story. Broadly that’s true… But tbh sometimes the movie going public is tired and they just want to have a laugh for two hours or so. Sometimes I’m tired and I just want to have a laugh for two hours or so. The Hangover part II engendered that laugh from me and I thank them for it. I wanted to be comfortably entertained and I was.

Sometimes familiarity is all the audience is looking for.

7/10

If you actually want to know more detail about what I thought of it, ask me in the comments