Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) reprise their roles from the breakout comedy of 2009. This time, Stu is getting married in Thailand.
Ed Helms provides most of the laughs via his wild reactions, while Galifianakis plays his signature weirdo character, and Cooper and Bartha play the straight men. The dynamic of their relationships is solid and believable. The problem is in the script.
The first 30 minutes builds up way too slowly for a comedy. One of the friends I saw the movie with (a young, healthy adult male) actually fell asleep.
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Once the whole gang is finally assembled, they head out to Thailand. They arrive, have one—count them—one beer to celebrate, and then wake up completely hammered and in confusion in a seedy motel in Bangkok. The aftermath of figuring out how this happened, and where their missing friend has gone (the little brother of Stu’s wife-to-be), fills the rest.
The drug-dealing monkey, car chase, bar fights, strange tattoos, and exploding pig that follow all seem like a gold mine of immature comedy. But aside from an occasionally outlandish moment of hilarity, it falls flat. And here’s why—too much personal growth.
A movie like this is supposed to be so crazy-stupid that you have no choice but to laugh out loud.
But there are too many pauses, too much introspection. The movie becomes more about Stu’s personal development and acceptance of his friends, his personal demons, and who he is as a man, rather than what it should be—a grand celebration of immature man-boy antics in Southeast Asia.
That said, the movie is still shocking, inappropriate, and pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable in a mainstream film.
This sequel is part detective game, part immature male humor, and nowhere near as funny as you want it to be. If you were a fan of the first, then it won’t live up to your expectations.
[etRating value=“ 2”]
