The Hangover Part II

In a predictable world, Todd Phillips' "The Hangover Part II" would be utterly dreadful. After all, it is an over-marketed sequel to one of 2009's biggest box-office smashes, an R-rated comedy which was essentially a much better orchestrated copycat of 2000's "Dude, Where's My Car?" set in Sin City, aka Las Vegas. Also, the sequel's premise is damn near exactly the same as its rib-tickling predecessor, but this time with the trio of booze-hound protagonists flying halfway across the globe to start their drunken antics once again. And its money-lusting intentions are plain as day, though many a moviegoer will no doubt be flocking to see it the first chance they get, eating out of the producers' hands like a dog would with its owner. Essentially, everything about "The Hangover Part II" stings the nostrils when sniffing it from the outside, but as it stands it is perfectly fine for what it is, not exceeding adequacy or falling short of it too often.

In this continent-hopping follow-up, The Wolfpack flies to Thailand (let the ethnic stereotypes begin!) for the wedding of one of its members. Stu (Ed Helms, "The Office") is getting married to the lovely Lauren (Jamie Chung, "Sucker Punch"), and he's invited Phil (Bradley Cooper, "Limitless"), Alan (Zack Galifianakis, "Due Date") and Doug (Justin Bartha, "National Treasure") to the romantic ceremony.

Just like in part one, the mismatched pals decide to swig back a few brews to celebrate, this time along with Lauren's 16-year-old brother Teddy (newcomer Mason Lee), only they get a lot more than tipsy. They knock beer bottles together, the camera pans up to the stars, we get speeded up establishing shots of the city until the sun begins to rise above Thailand, and voila, it's the next day. And some intriguing things have happened...

Phil, Stu and Alan groggily wake the next morning to find themselves each with a hangover in an unfamiliar, sleazy-looking hotel room in Bangkok for some unclear reason. Alan's curly hair has been shaved off (though his beard is still intact), Stu has a Mike Tyson-style tattoo on the left side of his face, and while Phil appears to have no physical boo-boos, he does have a splitting headache.

None of them can recollect much of what happened the previous night, nor do they remember how they got where they currently are. A phone call to Doug proves worthless, as he left the drinking session early. There are many questions that need answering. Why are they in Bangkok? Why is there a monkey in the bathroom? Where is Teddy? And why is his severed ring finger sitting on the coffee table?

It would be foolish to argue against claims that "The Hangover Part II" is lazy; it very much is a lazy film. It's a sequel that follows the plot of its predecessor to a tee, structured in exactly the same way, the characters themselves actually referring to the ridiculousness of this happening to them again ("It happened again," says Phil in the flash-forward opening scene). It is practically a carbon copy of the original, the narrative beats nigh unchanged, certain scenes frame-for-frame identical to that of the 2009 hit, its story not particularly imaginative. In a film that's meant to rely on the element of surprise, this certainly is not an advantage, nor does it help in making the movie truly memorable.

While the first film was on a ticking clock to find groom Doug and get him to his own wedding, part deux has the trio running around Thailand to find the bride's little brother before the ceremony begins. With this, writer-director Phillips gets his creative juices flowing as he tries to come up with fresh and funny situations for the gang to stumble into as they search for the missing teenager and piece together the events that conspired in their alcohol-gulping night. For the most part, it is a moderate success in spite of the look-alike narrative.

Phillips, along with co-writers Craig Mazin ("Superhero Movie") and Scot Armstrong ("Semi-Pro"), spends much of the movie constructing moments to shock viewers and make them giggle at the sheer ludicrousness of it all. They are stretching a formula that was handled particularly well in the original, but there are plenty of bright ideas to keep the film going and the laughs consistent enough to be satisfying.

However, these laughs (which are unexpectedly darker and more mean-spirited than that of the first) aren't necessarily belly laughs, though a scene with the revelation of a shemale did have me guffawing in the theatre. Most of the jokes are worthy of only a chuckle, and that's ultimately the film's biggest fault. While "The Hangover" had a high number of moments of sheer hilarity, "Part II" struggles to rise above simply being amusing. Sure, it made me titter a few times, but more laughs would have been much appreciated.

Still, it's wholly entertaining as our hapless threesome are brutally beaten by a monk and get splattered with the blood of a dead pig. The film meanders between feeling sympathetic for them and pointing and laughing at their extreme misfortune, though in most scenes it's overwhelmingly the case of the latter. Phil's the foul-mouthed easy-on-the-eyes hunk, Stu's the seemingly normal dentist with a wild side that's unleashed upon sipping alcohol, and Alan is the bushy-bearded, clueless weirdo with the naivety and troublemaking tendencies of a young child. They scream, they whine, they cry and they get shot, and it's all in the name of our sadistic enjoyment. Now that's entertainment!

For what it is, "The Hangover Part II" is fun and is good for a few giggles, but high expectations will not be beneficial to the enjoyment of the film. While its structure is nearly an exact replica of its forerunner, it's inventive enough with the events the trio suffer through, which go from lighthearted to crude, shocking to scandalous and downright disturbing. I also must commend the film for not going for a "bang cock" joke at any point; I suppose "American Pie: The Wedding" already filled that position.

6/10