‘The Hangover: Part II’ is More of the Same

By MATTHEW BLAIR

Witty, original, hilarious, and suspenseful are all perfect adjectives to describe the ingeniously funny movie, “The Hangover.” However its sequel, aptly titled “The Hangover: Part II,” fails to recreate the charm and flair of the original.

The original cast (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, and Ken Jeong) are in Thailand for, you guessed it, a bachelor party.

But while the promotional material for “Part II” claimed, “The Wolfpack is Back,” these wolves whimper through an almost carbon copy of the first movie.
Ed Helms’ character “Stu” is getting married, and remembering the hijinks of the previous bachelor party, he opts for a very low-key bachelor brunch. Soon after the brunch, the main characters build a beach bonfire for a quiet night of celebrating Stu’s last moments of bachelorhood.

“The Hangover: Part II” really gets to its comedic core when the main characters have a toast on the beach, after which the screen fades to black then re-opens with the characters waking up in a decrepit and threadbare apartment in Bangkok.

Nobody knows what happened, one of them is missing, and the “Wolfpack” must retrace their steps to find their lost friend. Sound familiar?

“The Hangover: Part II” does have its funny moments and laugh-out-loud scenes as the guys wander through Bangkok. Yet, as is often typical in the movie industry, the sequel fails to live up to the hype of the original.

The predictable story arc is pleasant enough and littered with enough celebrity guest appearances and quick one-liners to help the viewer not realize that they’ve been sitting through one hour and forty-two minutes of rehashed jokes, but the feeling of déjà vu is hard to shake.

You can see “The Hangover, part II” at Cheap Seats Presents! in Combs 139, Saturday, Sept. 10 at 10 p.m., or Sunday, the Sept. 11, at 2 p.m.