The Hangover 2

I find myself in the cinema at the very least once per week so the amount of cinema visits each year is reasonably high however the percentage of these visits which are to see comedies is very low.

The first Hangover was fun - I like farcical comedy and The Hangover pulled it off quite well. The sequel was as much as a surprise as it was inevitable so on opening weekend The Nerdy Trio found themselves seeing what must be only our second comedy of the year (the other being Easy A).

PLOT: If you have seen The Hangover you have seen The Hangover 2 - kindly swap Vegas for Bangkok and monkey for tiger and Robert‘s your fathers brother (so to speak). END PLOT

It is quite an achievement for Todd Phillips to brazen out the fact that The Hangover essentially remade itself with The Hangover 2 and be completely unapologetic. The plot follows exactly the same beats as its predecessor only this time the quest to find their missing friend becomes more elaborate and extreme.

The Hangover 2 is one of the most laziest concepts for a film in recent history but it does have one very important thing going for it - the cast.

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis are all likeable enough to almost make you succeed in blocking out the overwhelming sense of déjà vu. They are all very fine in their roles and are fun to watch on screen. If it wasn’t for the cast The Hangover would have slipped by unnoticed and again they save the day.

This time around we see a lot more of Mr Chow (on several levels) however the sub-plot with Paul Giamatti, Interpol and Chow’s subsequent arrest bogged down what was already a slightly over long running time and was the driest part of the film.

As with all comedies some of the set pieces worked and were genuinely amusing and some fell completely flat - monkey’s smoking is not funny and to be honest I don't even find it particularly controversial. Chow and the monkey should be given to Bangkok never to be seen again.

The Hangover 2 is amusing and I did find myself chuckling away on several occasions at its sheer stupidity but it is in no way a great film. It doesn’t have that little sliver of originality to separate it from The Hangover . The Hangover 2 gets a 5/10 - the cast can reunite in ten years time for the inevitable reunion drink but until then sober they should stay.

It didn’t make me any less in love with Bradley Cooper and for that I am somewhat grateful and quite frankly a little relieved.