The Hangover pt. II

I'm about a full week behind in my analysis of the record-breaking sequel to The Hangover. I left it alone because I thought my review would have been redundant. I walked away from the movie exactly as did many of the critics: It was a cheap reincarnation of the first film. It played out like a Hangover mad-lib with raunchier (but not necessarily funnier) details rounding out an identical plot. But with apparent plans to make a third movie based around these characters, I can at least offer my thoughts on how to redeem the franchise.


The first problem right away is the title. It's difficult to have a movie called The Hangover pt. II, or III for that matter, and not have it revolve around its characters being, once again, hung over. Rather than take a risk and put a little faith in the characters we fell in love with from the first film, they decided not to tell a different kind of story. They should have. And for number three, they can. (My idea for the title: The Wolf Pack Strikes Back.)


Film three should be what film two could have been. Construct a story that has mystery and urgency--the elements that fuel the comedy of these movies--but start out with a brand new template. We could see a story that has fun trying to reconcile Phil's (Bradley Cooper) inner party animal with his low-key husband/father/schoolteacher identity back home. We could certainly afford to see more Doug (Justin Bartha), a character whose absence in the first film was the plot, but whose exclusion this time around feels like a cop-out. Bartha stole the show in the National Treasure movies. They would have done well to include him in more of the story than just the first act and dénouement.


It's very tricky, because the whole magic of film one was the mystery and fun of watching the details of their night of debauchery unfold as they chase one false lead after another. Problem is, it's only good once. Try to repeat it and your story becomes predictable and stale. Just look at the aforementioned Treasure movies. Did anyone like that sequel?


If Hangover II didn't do it for you, check out Bridesmaids. It's what I wish we could have seen in a Hangover sequel (once you take away a few Y chromosomes).