THE HANGOVER: PART II

Director: Todd Phillips

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis

IT’S a simple equation - if you liked the first Hangover then you’ll enjoy this follow-up. It’s just a question of to what extent.

I reckoned it was a great laugh but I prefer my comedy films to be rather more subtle. My 23-year-old daughter thought it was excellent and about the only truly funny movie since... well Hangover I.

Having set out their stall in the first film, you knew the writers and director wouldn’t hold back with the language and some extreme comic situations.

The plot follows pretty much the same as the last. A bunch of friends get together for one last drink before one of them gets married.

The next morning some of them wake up in hangover hell, with evidence of a raucous night around them, and spend the rest of movie repairing the damage done.

So we have car chases, gangsters, drugs, and some rather dubious ‘women’.

The main criticism has been that, apart from moving the story from Vegas to Bangkok, this is more of a remake than a sequel.

However, this won’t stop the audiences filling the auditoriums.

Ken Jeong (as Mr Chow) makes a welcome return and is given a meatier role.

But the stars are still Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis, plus a remarkable monkey.

The trio (not the monkey) blend with and complement each other really well for a movie with plenty of laugh out loud moments.

three out of five stars

Steve Payne

Screening courtesy of Cineworld Crawley