PRODUCER – Daniel Goldberg, Todd Phillips, David Siegel (co-producer), Jeffrey Wetzel (co-producer)
DIRECTOR – Todd Phillips
WRITER – Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong, Todd Phillips
CAST – Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong
MUSIC – Christophe Beck
Last time around it was Doug, this time it’s Teddy. The stakes are equally high but now the odds are stacked up really rough against them this time. How do Phil, Stu and Alan get themselves out of this one?
Like last time round the script is wicked and spares no one. If then it was Vegas and its debauchery this time it is Thailand and its crime and gore. Mad partying is a given and so is the case of lost ‘important person’. Hangover part-2 reads pretty much as a caper written on the exact formulaic path of the former but the skill with which it navigates this formula is brilliant.
So the gang land up in Thailand for Stu’s marriage with a Thai girl. Despite vowing to not have a bachelor party again they wake up in a shanty hotel after what began as a quiet night at the beach. What they have with them is each other, a monkey and Chow, the Mafiosi they met in the last part. But Teddy (Stu’s 16 yr old would-be brother-in-law) is nowhere to be seen. Only his finger is. What happened?
In a panic-stricken thrill ride to get Teddy back we piece together what may and did happen last night. Criminals, ganglords, transsexual prostitutes, drug mafias, Interpol are revealed to be a part of this wild wild night this bunch seemed to have had. As is expected, all ends well but not without a twist in Stu’s character with certain realisations once again.
Hangover-2 is kept together with convincing performances from a team that doesn’t think anything they are doing is outlandish, which is a feat. Zach Galifianakis is hilarious with his self-involved, anti-social, slightly deranged Alan and so is Bradley Cooper (Phil) equally competent in his stud school-teacher role. Ed Helms (Stu) gets the plumiest part and displays his histrionics with full involvement. Without energetic and involved performances the film wouldn’t be half the fun it turns out to be.
It is difficult to cash in on the success of a default hit but Hangover-2 does that with a precision and sharpness. The writers, director and cast seem to have been fully in control of what experience they want to deliver. It is of fun, thrill, jaw-dropping hilarity and amazement at the how badly things can go wrong. Nothing is outlandish enough in Hangover-land. The film makes this believable and it is funny all right. In the best sense.
Originally published here
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