In the “Die Hard” series, Bruce Willis asked: “How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?” Well, if the guys are as dumb as the three guys who call themselves the Wolf Pack in the “Hangover” flicks: Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and Alan (Zach Galifiniakis). In the first one, it’s Justin Bartha who was getting married when he got missing. This time, it’s Ed Helms who’s getting hitched in a beach resort in Thailand. The bride (Jamie Chung) has a brother, Teddy (Mason Lee, real life son of Director Ang Lee), who’s a brilliant pre-med student at Stanford in the U.S. and joins the Wolf Pack in the flight to Thailand.
Stu chooses not to have a bachelor party, worried what happened to them in Vegas would be repeated. He and his friends just have some drinks by the bonfire on the beach. When they wake up in a seedy fleabag in Bangkok, Stu has a tattoo on his face, Alan is bald, Phil can’t at all recall what happened to them the night before, and Teddy is missing leaving behind one finger with his Stanford ring on it. Just like the structure of the original, the idiotic trio now have to trace back what happened and also find Teddy before they return to resort for the wedding.
Director Todd Phillips (who also co-produced and co-wrote the movie) uses the exact template of the original except it’s now set in Bangkok (doing it a disservice by showing mainly its seamier, dirtier side) and, instead of a baby or a tiger, they now have a monkey who smokes joining the trio. Even Mike Tyson reappears here singing a horribly out of tune version of “One Night in Bangkok”. Phillips obviously sees no reason why he has to change the formula that already worked so well before.
As usual, the humor is very raunchy, bordering on the bad taste “bastos” type, and if your sensibilities are easily shocked and offended, you’d be wise to skip this movie. But those who appreciate this kind of comedy that makes so much fun of penises will have plenty of laughs while watching it. Of the three obnoxious characters, the most loathsome one is Alan, a retard with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. If you find his moronic antics funny, then that says a lot about your own sense of humor. As he says: “When a monkey nibbles on a penis, it’s funny in any language.” Do you agree? Then you’re one of the countless viewers to whom the film’s reckless kind of juvenile humor appeal perfectly.
Also back is Ken Jeong, the offensive gangster Mr. Chow who once again unabashedly displays over the top lunacy and nudity. Just like in the original, photos of what happened the night before are shown during the end credits and Stu is shown having sex with a Thai transvestite. Now that the sequel is an even bigger hit than the original, wonder how will they push the envelope further in coming with an even more salacious “Hangover Part III”?
