Will Hangover Part II Flop?

Uh oh... did one of us shit the bed?

Recently we did a poll on Facebook asking everyone what remaining films of the 2011 summer season are they looking forward to the most. The Hangover Part II led all others including big finales like Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Dark of the Moon. The film debuts tomorrow and reviews are starting to pour in and so far it isn't pretty. On Rotten Tomatoes Hangover Part II has a 32% with 9 positive reviews and 17 negative. Now obviously more will pile in later today as it's a big release but does this worry anyone? Here are a few captions from the "Top Critics" Rotten Tomatoes lists on their page.





"The lads in the "Hangover" "wolfpack" seem a tad winded, this time around. From concept to execution, "Hangover Part II" has a "been there, done that, jailed for it" feel." - Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel


"The stock dismissal "more of the same" has rarely been more accurately applied to a sequel than to The Hangover Part II, which ranks as little more than a faded copy of its predecessor superimposed on a more brightly colored background."
- Andrew Barker of Variety

"Giving the people what they want is one thing. Making nearly the exact same movie a second time, but shifting the setting to Thailand, is just ... what, lazy? Arrogant? Maybe a combination of the two." - Christy Lemire of The Associated Press

Even the positives don't sound all that uplifting.

"There are definitely laughs to be had, even if the three leads often seem to be going through the motions." Lou Lumenick of The New York Post

"What happens in Bangkok isn't as much fun as when it happened in Vegas, but it's still worth the trip." - Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter


Hangover 2 seems to be a lot of the same, in some critic's opinions you might as well take the background of the first movie and replace it with Bangkok. Is this a cause for alarm for movie goers? What kind of sequel did you all expect to receive from this franchise? This is a franchise that wants to put it's main cast in similar situations but raise the scale with new locations and experiences. If this film went from the drunken mishaps of the first one to say.. a buddy road trip where we got to see EVERYTHING they experienced I don't think it would deserve the title Hangover. Now that doesn't mean I want the exact same movie and just change the location, but as long as the movie feels different then it will make for a worthwhile experience.

The jokes need to be funny, the characters need to be fresh and pull you into the film to believe that they are going through and how they feel about it. From the trailers it does look like The Wolfpack (Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis) is at their usual tempo that is going to have you sitting there truly wondering what they find out next. In comparison to the critics quoted above I am amateur at best. I have only been reviewing films for 5 months and evolving my criticisms further past "I liked it, it was good" to really pay attention to performances and plot, but with a film like The Hangover there really isn't much you can ask the film to do other then be funny and keep me interested.

Now this franchise is being talked about as a trilogy of films by director Todd Philips. If there is to be one more film that is suppose to end this franchise with a bang I feel it needs to be a big deal. It needs to evolve past JUST the Wolfpack, bring Doug into the fold and maybe a few others that haven't experienced this kind of event to give a fresh perspective. Make it big in scale, crazier then it's ever been, and the largest cameos the film has ever seen. By then Bradley Cooper should have some real pull in Hollywood to get guys to appear in the film. How great would it be to see if they woke up and one of them was converted to Scientology by Tom Cruise or John Travolta? or maybe they crashed a big event hosted by Tom Hanks? Signed a contract to fight Quinton Rampage Jackson? Anything to truly send this franchise out on a high horse.

Though this all depends on the success of the sequel, which from the buzz has to be prepping for at least a big opening weekend... if the critics don't convince people to do otherwise. So what about you guys, Do the opinions of the few outweigh the excitement of the many? Will you now be leery of seeing the film or do these opinions mean jack shit to you? I know this will not be the last summer film this season to receive surprising or worrisome reviews but it felt like something worth discussing. Make sure to share your comments!