Hangover Part II

I can't help but feel if my brother ever traveled to Bangkok, this would be his story.

I saw Hangover Part II in it's opening Memorial Day Weekend (can a day have it's own weekend?) and I gotta say-if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Literally this movie is an exact replica of the first. Different city, different lost guy, different antics, same characters, same plot. Doesn't matter because it was delightfully laugh out loud outrageously hysterical. The shock value was lessened only because you are expecting a certain shock value; however, the movie is anything but predictable. 

The movie intelligently acknowledged it's predecessor adding anticipation. Stu, the groom-to-be this time around, plays it safe by having an impromptu bachelor party at IHOP. At the rehearsal dinner, the character drink only from unopened bottles and display extreme caution to avoid a replicate wild night. So the suspense develops into How the hell did this happen again? And of course, figuring what transpired the previous night so they can find the missing member of the group in time for the wedding.

The second time around, the stakes are raised-apparently Bangkok is more seedy than Vegas as displayed with the repetitious "Bangkok has him now" tagline. The original Wolf Pack wakes up in a run-down motel room, apparently drugged again, to find a monkey, a naked Asian man, and a severed finger. As highly unrealistic (I hope) the storyline is, my only qualm is the underwhelming reaction to a missing appendage. There was more hysteria from Stu who woke up with a face tat.

 I still thoroughly enjoyed the wild ride and would recommend this movie to anyone over the age of 21. Much of the charm that made the prequel an instant cult classic is kept intact. I didn't think that kind of movie magic could be repeated a second time, and am happy to report I was proven wrong. I want to go on record saying a trilogy will push the limits and plead with producers to please stop while you're ahead-don't ruin a good thing.