The Hangover Part II Will Have You Hung-Over with Laughter By Art Byrd

One of the best things to do is laugh, really laugh. Almost two years ago, the movie The Hangover crept into theaters. The audience laughter for the movie could be heard for blocks. I was part of that crowd.

But when I heard about a sequel to The Hangover, I thought, “No way -- don’t mess up a good thing!” as most sequels do. The Hangover Part II was made very quickly; Filming finished earlier this year. The average sequel takes about two-and-half to three years to get into theaters.

There are similarities between The Hangover and The Hangover Part II but different twists. For instance, the characters are the same, but now the location is Bangkok, Thailand. Right there, the laughter can begin, because you know a cultural and language barrier is coming.

We catch up with the so-called Wolf pack: Doug, played by Justin Bartha (National Treasure movies); Phil, played by Bradley Cooper (Limitless); Stu, played by Ed Helms (The Office); and Alan, played by Zach Galifianakis  (Due Date). It’s now about a year-and-a-half after the Las Vegas excursion. Stu is getting married to Lauren, played by Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch, Samurai Girl). She is Asian and her family has arranged for her to be married in Thailand.

All of the Wolfpack except Alan are invited to go to the wedding. Stu doesn’t want Alan to come.

In a fun scene at IHOP where Stu is having a bachelor brunch instead of a bachelor party, he tells Doug and Phil that he is still haunted by the Las Vegas incident. After prodding by the other two, Stu reluctantly asked Alan to come to the wedding.

I will say that Ken Jeong is back as Mr. Chow. He is too funny, especially with that strange voice he uses. There is a monkey played by Crystal the Monkey (yes, the monkey has billing with the rest of the cast).  I can understand why because Crystal is hilarious and has human characteristics, especially with a cigarette, and it adds to the story line.

Phil was the calm one as he tried to deal with the cultural and language barriers. Stu/Ed Helms’ reactions were priceless as he couldn’t believe the same thing that happened in Vegas was happening again.

Galifianakis’ Alan has to go down as one of the strangest and funniest characters in movie history. His straight face while delivering dialogue added to the laughs because you couldn’t believe the stuff that he would say.

All in all, The Hangover Part II is as much fun as the first one was. As for which one is better, I don’t know. If you do see the movie, you and the rest of the audience will be hung over with laughter and feel good. That is a very cool way to see a movie.

edited by Michele Ristich Gatts