The missing person, the seamy urban setting, the gradual accretion of clues: The Hangover films are, essentially, hard-boiled crime stories spun into comic depravity.
The Hangover Part II isn't a dud, exactly -- some of it is very funny, and there are a few memorable jolts and outlandish dirty moments. But it feels, at times, like a routine adventure film set overseas.
Overall, your enjoyment of this film will correlate directly to your enjoyment of the previous film. If you liked it, you'll like this one, if not, you won't enjoy the sequel as it's just more of the same.
Directed, like the wildly successful first film, by Todd Phillips, it airlifts the original characters, premise, and story structure out of Vegas and plonks them down in Bangkok in near-identical form, save for a few instances of ante-upping.
The cast is once again at the top of their game and there are some genuinely hilarious moments, but on the whole, The Hangover Part II is way too similar to the first film to be enjoyable.
Unless moviegoers themselves are willing to shoulder some of the blame, it's useless to try and figure out why The Hangover Part II is so bad. The film only exists because, after the hilarious 2009 movie broke box-office records for an R-rated comedy...
