Have you been to see The Hangover Part 2 yet? No? Have you seen the first one? Yes? Well then you've kinda seen the second one. Yep, it's true what they are saying, the second movie is basically the same plot structure and rhythm as the first movie. I was a big fan of the first film and really looking forward to the second. However it is disappointing that they didn't do more with it given the new location and the characters they had already set up so well.
In this one, Stu is getting married to his girlfriend of 2 years in Thailand. Phil and Doug are going along but Alan definitely isn't invited after the hi-jinks last time. However, Alan ends up finding a way to get invited. Stu tries to get away with a "bachelor brunch" at home with no chance of another crazy night and it seems this strategy is going to be sucessful. Except we know it isn't, because the opening of the film is virtually identical to the first, with Phil making the call back to the girls to say that things have been messed up. From here the movie goes through the same pattern of discovering a missing friend, then unravelling the night before and trying to find the missing person in time for the wedding.
There are plenty of really funny scenes and Alan is again the idiotic man-child who has the "what the" lines. However I just didn't walk out thinking "I loved that" and I think the reason is that the first one was so surprising as it came out of nowhere, whereas this one just lost the element of surprise by copying the beats from the first movie. The jokes are similar and expected if you can remember details of the first one. Also there were only a few new characters introduced and most of those had very little screen time and no chance to get to know them. I'd still give it a solid 3 out of 5 but definitely a lost opportunity. I hear the third one is already in motion, let's hope they learn from this and make it different.
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