Hangover 2 review

I promise I don't hate movies. You may not believe me after reading my kind review of Pirates but I actually love movies. To be honest, there are few things I love more. Nothing beats sitting back and being absorbed into an escapist world for approximately 90 minutes.

That was a precursor to the rest of this review. I am in the minority because (surprise, surprise) I didn't like the first Hangover all that much. I can handle raunchy comedies, I even rank some of them as my guilty pleasures, but I just didn't think the Hangover was all that funny. It just didn't have that many actual jokes, just "crazy" situations. Meh. So I'm not the best person to trust when it comes to Hangover 2. (Though you should trust me because I'm basically almost always right.)

In the Hangover 2, the Wolfpack visits Thailand for Stu's (Ed Helms) wedding. After the last movie's incident they are all wary of getting drunk together before Stu's big day, but suffice to say, they get wasted and wake up in a mysterious, trashy Bangkok hotel. They spend the rest of the day searching for clues to find Stu's missing future bro-in-law.

I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but it's almost as if the screenwriters have a Mad Libs book with a general plot where they fill in the missing words with "even crazier" things than the first movie. For example -

The gang goes to _____ for _____'s wedding. They get insanely smashed and wake up in a ____. Stu is missing/has gained a _____. They hear an animal and a ____ appears.

You get the drill. It's literally the same movie. Lazy, sloppy filmmaking. There are those of you who love the first and will love the second as well because you want a few gut laughs. There is nothing wrong with that. I just hope they don't make another sequel/remake after this.

Is the movie funny. Yes, there are belly laughs and parts that will make you cringe. But it's not as funny as the first because you've seen it all before. Is Zach Galifanakis still the socially inept man-child? Yes, but the act is getting tired.

Take it for what it's worth but I think this movie is a redbox rental at best. Save your 9 dollars. I caught myself laughing twice so I'll give this movie one star.