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Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD THE HANGOVER PART II
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: **
Hangover II is a unique film in one respect. Whereas the usual trend
for a sequel is to try and take the elements from the original and take the
story forward, Hangover II has no such pretences, setting out
instead to copy the first almost to the last detail by merely relocating the
film, thus instantly giving you a bad hangover coupled with dejà vu.
Just like in the first part, the motley gang of friends, after a night of
boozing in Thailand where they have gone to attend the marriage of Stu (Ed
Helms), wake up with a terrible hangover, in a strange sweaty room, with a
monkey and a cut finger in the room.
And yes, a very important person in their group, whose finger lies on the table,
is missing. Just like in the first part they try to find the missing person
while trying to figure out where they were the previous night and what they did.
The first question that comes to mind is, why bother with making a sequel if you
have to do the same thing all over again? Why not instead, sell the rights of
the film to different parts of the world so instead of this one being called
Hangover II, it would have been called Hangover in
Bangkok directed by someone there and the `inspired` Sajid Khan in India
could make Hangover in Mumbai and so on.
Why, they could also have had a political one called Hangover In
Washington with Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a life-sized cameo while
Hangover In Paris would have Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
The beauty of the first part was that the audiences did not know what to expect
and were genuinely surprised at every turn of the film. This part is so alike
the original that after a point it begins to irritate. The filmmakers try to up
the ante by trying to add some fun elements like a smoking, drug peddling chimp,
introducing Paul Giamatti, increasing the gags for Alan and Chow etc, but
overall it falls flat on its face and becomes nothing more than a tourist ride
through the ugliness and beauty of Bangkok
The only thing that shines though this film is some extremely lazy and sloppy
writing and direction with even the few gags raising nothing more than a
chuckle. With some very implausible elements like the coolness of character to a
kid losing his finger, and many sub-plots left halfway, the fact that the film
was created by people nursing a hangover is evident.
Thus, the only people who are bound to like the film even a little bit, are
hardcore fans of the first and those who have not seen the first at all.
In “The Hangover Part II,” Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) travel to exotic Thailand for Stu’s wedding. After the unforgettable bachelor party in Las Vegas, Stu is taking no chances and has opted for a safe, subdued pre-wedding brunch. However, things don’t always go as planned. What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens in Bangkok can’t even be imagined.
