The Hangover: Part II (2011)

Each week at A1 Movie Reviews, I make a decision regarding which films to see and which ones to skip. Back on June 5th of 2009, a little-known project named The Hangover was put into the latter category.

I remember thinking it was just another raunchfest that would disappear without much fanfare. While the raunchy part was spot-on, I sorely underestimated the public’s need to see middle-aged men run around Las Vegas while suffering from alcohol-induced amnesia. The movie went on to gross over $467 million worldwide, turn Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis into stars, and make me look like an idiot in the process. When The Hangover: Part II was announced, you can bet that I marked the date on my calendar.

Let me assure you that The Hangover: Part II subscribes to the old adage of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The premise is surprisingly close to the original, all your favorite characters return, and, if anything, the level of crassness has been taken up a notch.

It’s two years after the chaos in Sin City, and mild-mannered dentist Stu Price (Ed Helms) is preparing to marry Lauren (Jamie Chung, who seems poised to put Lucy Liu out of business). The bride’s parents are originally from Thailand, so it’s decided that the nuptials will held at a private resort in the Southeast Asian nation. Stu, still recovering from the trauma of Vegas, opts not to have a bachelor party, but fellow Wolfpack members Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) do end up making the trip.

Gathering on a Thai beach–along with Lauren’s 16-year-old prodigy brother, Teddy (Mason Lee, son of director Ang Lee)–the suburban hellraisers share a single beer to celebrate the coming wedding. A few hours later, they awake in a ramshackle hotel in Bangkok with no memory of the previous evening. They do, however, discover a passed-out Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), a capuchin monkey wearing a Rolling Stones jacket, Teddy’s severed finger, and Stu’s new facial tattoo. The rest of Teddy‘s body is nowhere to be found, and Mr. Chow appears to overdose prior to revealing the teen’s location.

Now saddled with a dead body, a missing boy, and a fast-approaching wedding date, the trio (poor Doug gets left out of the action again) must scour the city and deal with an endless onslaught of bizarre and increasingly shady characters. And when it’s all said and done, you can bet that the end credits will fill in any gaps in the narrative with a series of outrageous photos.

If you’re the average American moviegoer who thinks that (a) the Transformers movies are pretty cool, (b) homosexuals are kinda gross, and (c ) Burger King should introduce an item with six beef patties, allow me to share some good news and bad news. First the good news: The Hangover: Part II features the same monkey (Crystal) who was so adorable in A Night at the Museum and its sequel. The little beast smokes cigarettes, acts as a drug mule, and isn’t shy about touching people’s genitals. Cute, right? Of course it’s cute, it’s a freakin’ monkey.

Now the bad news: Among other things, Thailand is known for taking a more accepting stance towards transsexuals than most nations. Often referred to as ladyboys (or kathoey), they can be found in everything from dimly-lit brothels to the upper levels of the entertainment industry. For the purposes of our discussion, imagine that they have feminine features, breasts, and a penis.

In The Hangover: Part II, you’ll get to see every inch of the aforementioned body parts, courtesy of adult performer Yasmin Lee. And if the sight of a tranny penis isn’t enough to make you throw up in your mouth and launch into a full-blown homophobic seizure, frank discussions of exchanging bodily fluids (as well as related photos during the end credits) may do the trick. You’ve been warned, America.

Of course, there’s more to The Hangover: Part II than monkeys and ladyboys. There’s Paul Giamatti as an international criminal, Nick Cassavetes as a tattoo artist (in a cameo originally intended for Mel Gibson until protests from the cast nixed it), and Mike Tyson as…well, Mike Tyson (singing Murray Head’s classic “One Night in Bangkok,” no less).

Director and co-writer Todd Phillips delivers more of the same from the previous film, although the general mood is darker around the edges. While played for laughs, Bangkok is depicted as a festering den of iniquity where life is cheap. A strip club owner (Bryan Callen) offers to sell our heroes an uzi for $6000, but for only $2000 they can buy themselves an underage boy. Trips to more upscale locations are filled with an equal amount of danger, and I doubt that the Thai tourism department will be sending any thank-you cards to Phillips and his cohorts.

Many of the reviews for The Hangover: Part II have been of the negative variety, with critics grousing that it’s too similar to the original. What did they expect? Audiences will go into this film expecting to see grown men acting like juvenile delinquents, with the most shocking acts reserved for a series of MPAA-safe still photos. With the exception of Yasmin Lee’s naughty parts, it’s more of the same. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.