FILM REVIEW: Hangover 2

5 out of 10

Some fellas just don't learn...

This was really one of those sequels. A carbon-copy of the original (swap Thailand for Vegas), turned up a few extra marks on the ridiculous dial. Born purely from the success of the previous film, and entirely for the pursuit of gold bullion, you can't help but feel its all just a little bit lazy. You could quite successfully argue that it was funny, and is what the fans are after, but in pandering to this, the spark and freshness of excitement captured in the original was laughed away with it.

Maybe thats a little harsh. I mean a comedy's main objective is to make you chuckle, which it did. The frustration is that the original achieved more than that. Your empathy carried through with the characters in that particular adventure. You were tied in with their story and the comedy was a successful byproduct of that. This one was more like a series of comedy acts where you were amused but didn't really care. Its replication perhaps a bit too contrived and apparent, there was no real belief in the situation unfolding.

The talent involved, (Phillips, Cooper, Galifianakis), ensures you'll probably get what you need from the film, but the first one gave a lot more.