The Hangover Part II

A couple of years ago the world was blown away by the brilliant comedy 'The Hangover'. Due to the economic principles of Hollywood we now get another adventure.

Making a sequel can be a tricky business. You need to give the audience something familiar to remind them of the joy they felt in the first film. But you also have to give them something new and fresh so they stay interested and don't get bored by seeing the same thing. This film runs dangerously close to being in the second category. The plot and its twists are identical to the first film with the only changes being that it is a new setting a a couple of new characters. I would be interested to know Todd Phillips thinking about this. Was he not confident that his loyal audience could handle something different. They could have at the very least included Doug in the new story to make it a bit more fresh. However judging by the success of the film no one seems to mind. As long as the film is funny then most people don't care. While I did not find the film as funny as the first one there are still many amusing moments. I'm one of those that would have preferred a story that was a bit more different so that better jokes could be developed. I must say though that the film is very well directed and looks spectacular. Todd loves to show off his sweeping helicopter shots of Thailand.

The cast pretty much forfil their roles like they did in the first film. With their characters going through pretty much the same situations then there is very little scope for them to stretch their characters. Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms play the cool guy and the nerd really well. It is however Zach Galifianakis who shines. He is so brilliant at playing this child in a man's body. The first film was his breakout role and now he shows how that wasn't a fluke. Ken Jeong was the most popular character in the first film so naturally he gets a bigger role here. Which he nicely runs with. They do recycle many of his jokes which is disappointing.

A sequel for those who are not too discerning about their sequels. Fans of the first film will no doubt have fun revising these familiar characters in the exact same situation. But if you like your sequels to have a bit more difference then maybe this is not for you.