The Hangover Part 2

“One Night In Bangkok”

Sequels are usually dangerous for fans hoping to recapture the experience they had with part one of anything. Sequels are never dangerous for those who profit from their release. If you build it, they will come, but only if they liked the first one, even if they’re well aware of how many hours they’ve wasted watching sequels they don’t like. There are rare exceptions like “Terminator 2” or “Godfather 2”, but “The Hangover” is a film that did not need a relapse. Especially one that’s not very funny.

“The Hangover Part 2” is basically the same film as “The Hangover” only not as fresh-feeling. The concepts and characters are identical, but the setting has been moved from Las Vegas to Bangkok. Even the structure of the way the story is presented is the same. I suspect you could perfectly sync-up the two films and the scene changes would totally match. But the laughs are all in the first film, not this one.

The basic premise of both movies is a group of friends having a bachelor party-style wild night prior to a wedding. They wake up the morning after with no memory of the bizarre events of the night. One of their friends is missing and they must re-trace their steps from strange clues they find. The jokes are raunchy and very R-rated.

With the first film being such a monumental hit, it’s certainly curious why they would bring in new writer Craig Mazin for the sequel. Mazin’s last film was the underwhelming so-so comedy “Superhero Movie” in 2008.

History will view the two ‘Hangover’ films like this. In 1976, a group of raunchy foul-mouthed Little League baseball players were a hit in “The Bad News Bears”. Two years later came the now-forgotten sequel “The Bad News Bears Go To Japan”. “The Hangover Part 2” is “The Bad News Bears Go To Japan” in this scenario.

DVD Double Feature:

The fresh and very funny original “The Hangover”.