The Hangover Part II [Blu-ray]

Positing the original Hangover as a sort of bastion for male simplicity, existing in a simplified, context-free vacuum of minor aberrations ― babies don't masturbate ― wherein comedy stems from the broadest deviances for the insularly adherent status quo followers, The Hangover II would be its fat, insecure cousin that awkwardly interrupts the conversation every five seconds, desperate for acceptance. It's a film that wants to be outrageous and offensive, but only tenuously so, realizing that the core breeding stock of the population likes only mild titillation and gags about things on the periphery of the political correctness spectrum. And, yes, that includes explicit imagery of a fully nude Thai tranny, or "chick-with-a-dick," if you will. Similar to the first outing, this Peter Pan opus of hypocritical, ersatz homosexual bonding and ambivalent acknowledgement of traditional male responsibility as necessity for retention of implicit power follows Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) on a night of bachelor party debauchery. The distinction this time is that they're in Bangkok and there's a drug-dealing monkey involved in a possible kidnapping conspiracy. Oh and there's a mysterious severed finger and Stu winds up with a Mike Tyson face tattoo. Why a Tyson tat? It's the Robot Chicken road to comedy, wherein male nostalgia for broad pop culture events and experiences in their lifetime play a bigger role than context or wit. Similarly, the jokes rely on the familiar, such as the sight of Ken Jeong's miniscule penis. And, as mentioned, instead of acknowledging why the image of a frontally nude Asian man is considered funny in North America, rather than erotic or even remotely sexual, it merely exists as something to shock the senses without any real purpose. This can be said for the movie on the whole, which relies on stirring the senses with utterances of terms like "cunt," "camel jockey," "nigger," "retard" and even commentary on the genital limitations of Asians. While offensive in a broad sense, this phraseology exists for reaction rather than context, not referring to a black person when dropping the N-bomb and certainly not involving a mentally handicapped person in the use of the word "retard." In short, The Hangover II, as an entity, suffers from Tourette's. If these events served some sort of purpose or there were some sort of direction, perspective or voice beyond the broadest of male anxietie,s this crudity could be appreciated for what it is. Unfortunately, it, like the film itself, is just there for flash and awe, uttered without thought in a sad effort to get attention and validation while similarly fearing rejection for going too far. The Blu-Ray includes a crappy, half-hour faux-documentary about the "footage they don't want you to see" from The Hangover II. They interview Morgan Spurlock… There's also a supplement on the comedy rhythm, or lack thereof, of Todd Phillips, as well as some fun information about the monkey. It all really adds dimension to the film, especially the bit about the monkey; it was actually a girl playing a boy!