'The Hangover: Part II ' takes vapidness to the next level

Film: The Hangover: Part II (A)
Cast:  Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha Ken Jeong
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: *1/2

The Hangover: Part II takes off from where the first part left.

Dentist Stu (Helms) has found true love in Lauren (Chung) and is to be married to her. The insufferable Phil, man-child Allen (Galifianakis) and straight man Doug accompany him to Lauren's native Thailand along with her younger brother Teddy (who happens to be a genius).

A night of revelry on a beach results in him, Phil and Allen waking up in a dingy Bangkok room. With no recollection whatsoever about what transpired on the way from the beach to the hotel room and, more importantly, where Teddy might be, the trio must scour the streets for clues and try to save Stu's wedding before it is too late.

One would think that the sequel of a movie like The Hangover would best its predecessor by building on its strengths (Galifianakis, vaguely engaging and intriguing plots) by employing two notions that have now degenerated into buzzwords: creativity and imagination. Never mind intelligence, that wasn't, conveniently enough, part of the deal anyway.

The lack of well thought out writing is evident from the arbitrary, thoroughly insipid twists and turns and unimaginative set-ups (Transsexual prostitutes in Thailand?)

The Hangover: Part II lazily rehashes the first movie’s formula, an average film with a lot of scope for improvement, by still  banking on Galifianakis' deadpan disregard for dignity, Cooper's devil-may-care attitude and Helms' high-strung nature and Ken Jeong's (for lack of a better weird) weirdness. Director Todd Phillips does not seek to outdo the last film but chooses, instead, to include cosmetic details.

Exotic locales and fancy cinematography don't refinement make. Lastly, the film, much like Allen who pines for his "wolfpack" and plasters the Vegas trip's pictures across the walls of his room, looks backwards instead of forwards. We know about that "epic" trip, but what new thing have we learned about, say, Phil? 

In all, this movie is unfunny.