The Hangover Part II: As funny as the first?
The morning-after mayhem returns to theaters, but critics aren't as amused this time around

In the summer of 2009, The Hangover, the story of a Las Vegas bachelor party gone tastelessly awry, was the movie to see. It took in $467 million in worldwide box office — the highest gross ever for an R-rated comedy — and made Zach Galifianakis a star. Now, the ill-fated party boys are back, in Bangkok this time, with The Hangover Part II. Is their Eastern misadventure as much fun as the original Vegas version? (Watch the movie's trailer.)
No, this is just a tired attempt to cash in again: It's "more of the same, and yet less," says Stephanie Zacharek at Movieline. The sequel has the same structure and cast as the first, but none of the untamed charm and "ingenious loopiness." This time around, the contrived, overly tailored "writing and direction smell more like marketing than actual filmmaking."
"REVIEW: The Hangover Part II Is a buddy movie that's nobody's friend"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
C'mon, it's appreciably adequate: The Hangover Part II is "a rock-solid mainstream comedy," says Nathan Rabin at The Onion's A.V. Club. Director Todd Phillips has stuck to the "winning formula" and simply inserted his winning cast, with their "rightly vaunted chemistry," into Bangkok. A higher raunch factor makes up for the deja vu and even though the movie aspires to be more darkly dangerous than it is, Phillips "has a lucrative franchise to protect" and had to play it safe.
The first film wasn't funny either: I don't find either of the movies all that amusing, says Manohla Dargis in The New York Times. In both, "grown men cast off the shackles of everyday existence, leaving behind girlfriends, wives, parents and jobs in order to play, feel, live." To me, "these nominal comedies... [are] better thought of as tragedies."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why are student loan borrowers falling behind on payments?
Today's Big Question Delinquencies surge as the Trump administration upends the program
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Not there yet: The frustrations of the pocket AI
Feature Apple rushes to roll out its ‘Apple Intelligence’ features but fails to deliver on promises
By The Week US Published
-
George Foreman: The boxing champ who reinvented home grills
Feature He helped define boxing’s golden era
By The Week US Published