The Hangover Part II

I went into The Hangover Part II with modest expectations. I didn't expect it to match the greatness and surprise of the original, but after being severely disappointed with Bridesmaids I simply wanted to laugh, and to laugh hard. Thankfully, The Hangover Part II was able to quench that desire.

As you may have heard, there is little or no difference in terms of plot and setup between Hangover 1&2, and for some people this has been a huge problem mainly because it takes away that feeling of surprise and mystery that the original was able to capture. While I can't really disagree with that point, I have to say that what it lacked in originality it made up for with a much darker tone and even darker laughs. Our three leads are involved in some truly awful and sick situations this time around, some of which we find out about in flashbacks or pictures and some are only hinted at, never to be fully revealed. These guys fucked some serious shit up, and the movie doesn't hesitate for a second to go to places much worse than anyone in the audience could have anticipated. And that's what really did it for me.

I love dark comedies. I mean, I LOVE dark comedies. Between this and Due Date, Director Todd Phillips seems determined to push the boundaries of what an audience is willing to go through in the name of comedy, and I for one couldn't be happier. I have a fairly sick sense of humor myself, as I think most people do, and that's what really draws me to Phillips' films. Not only are they raunchy, but they take normal people ( sans Galifianakis) and puts them in situations that are ridiculous, maddening, and believable all at once, all while making sure that the characters react in a way that most people would, even if they wouldn't want to admit it. For example, if I woke up one morning to find one of my best friends has gotten a face tattoo eerily similar to that of Mike Tyson's, I think my first response would be to laugh, just as Bradley Cooper does when he first see's Ed Helms face. So I guess it just comes down to the fact that I really enjoy seeing normal people causing and being put through absolute hell.

It also helps that I laugh at just about anything Zach Galifianakis does. He could literally just stand motionless and not speak a word and I would laugh. Even though he doesn't have as many classic moments as he did in the first (" Hey do you guys know when the next Haley's Comet is?"), he still kills it here. I have to say though, Ken Jeong has two of the movies biggest laughs at the beginning and end of the film, so I would be more than willing to have him show up in the third one if it ever happens, albeit in a similarly small fashion as it was here.

Overall, I highly recommend The Hangover Part II. It's hard for any comedy sequel to deliver the goods, and even though Part II isn't as surprising as the first, it still delivers just as many laughs while also pushing the envelope further than even I expected.