| The Hangover Part II | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Todd Phillips |
| Written by |
|
| Based on | |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Lawrence Sher |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Christophe Beck |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 101 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million[2] |
| Box office | $586.8 million[2] |
The Hangover Part II is a 2011 Americancomedy film andsequel to the 2009 filmThe Hangover, and the second installment inThe Hangover trilogy. The film was directed byTodd Phillips, who co-wrote the script withCraig Mazin andScot Armstrong, and starsBradley Cooper,Ed Helms,Zach Galifianakis,Ken Jeong,Jeffrey Tambor,Justin Bartha, andPaul Giamatti.
It tells the story of Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug, as they travel toThailand. After the bachelor party inLas Vegas, Stu takes no chances and opts for a safe, subdued pre-wedding brunch. Things do not go as planned, resulting in another badhangover with no memories of the previous night.
Development began in April 2009, two months beforeThe Hangover was released. The principal actors were cast in March 2010 to reprise their roles from the first film. Production began in October 2010, inOntario, California, before moving on location in Thailand. Produced byLegendary Pictures, Green Hat Films andBenderSpink, and distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures, the film premiered at theTCL Chinese Theatre on May 19, 2011 and was released theatrically on May 26, 2011. It became theeighth-highest-grossing film of 2011 and the highest-grossing R-rated comedy during its theatrical run, and received mixed reviews.
A third installment,The Hangover Part III, was released on May 24, 2013.[3]
Stu Price plans to travel toThailand for his upcoming wedding to Lauren, his fiancée. To avoid what happened in Las Vegas two years earlier,[a] Stu does not allow his three best friends, Doug Billings, Phil Wenneck and Alan Garner to throw him abachelor party. He instead hosts hisbachelor party atIHOP with Phil and Doug.
Tracy convinces Doug to persuade Stu to let her brother Alan join their trip to Thailand. Stu agrees to bring his friends, including Alan, Tracy, and Phil's wife Stephanie. At the airport, Lauren's 16-year-old brother Teddy, aStanford scholar, joins them, to Alan's disapproval.
During the rehearsal dinner, Lauren's father Fong expresses disapproval of Stu in a toast. Later, Stu joins Phil, Doug, Alan, and Teddy for beers around a campfire, toasting to Stu and Lauren's future happiness.
The next day, Phil, Stu, and Alan wake in a rundownBangkok hotel room with no memory of how they got there. Stu has a face tattoo, and Alan's head is shaved. They learn that Leslie Chow followed them to Thailand on Alan's invite and can't find Teddy, only his severed finger. Chow begins recounting the previous night but passes out after snorting cocaine. Thinking he's dead, the panicked trio hides his body in the hotel's ice box.
Through a tip from Doug (who left the campfire earlier and stayed at the resort), they go to a police station to pick up Teddy, but are given a wheelchair containing an elderlyBuddhistmonk. He cannot reveal anything, having taken avow of silence. After finding a business card, they travel to the smoldering ruins of a business, apparently destroyed in a riot the night before.
They enter a nearby parlor where Stu got his tattoo, and they learn that they started a fight that escalated into the riot. The trio returns the monk to his temple, where they are encouraged tomeditate. Alan eventually recalls that they had been at astrip club, where they learn that Stu had sex with atrans woman. Upon exiting, the trio is attacked by twoRussian mobsters who shoot Phil in his arm.
After Phil is treated at a clinic, Alan confesses that he had drugged some of the marshmallows withmuscle relaxers and hisADHD medication to sedate Teddy, but accidentally mixed up the bags. Furious, Stu attacks Alan.
During the scuffle, they find an address and time for a meeting on Alan's stomach. They meet Kingsley, a gangster demanding Chow's bank password by morning for Teddy. They seek Chow's password at the hotel, discovering he is still alive. They steal acapuchin monkey with the code in his vest, escaping through a car chase in which the monkey is shot and injured.
After taking the code and leaving the monkey outside aveterinary, the group completes the deal with Kingsley the next morning.Interpol agents appear and arrest Chow. Kingsley, an undercover agent, does not know where Teddy is.
Desperate, Phil calls Tracy to say that they cannot find Teddy. During arolling blackout, Stu realizes where Teddy is. The trio returns to the hotel to find Teddy in the elevator (though he still misses a finger). He had woken up earlier than the others, but became trapped after the power went out when he left to find ice for his finger. Using Chow's speedboat, the four return to the wedding reception.
Fong is about to cancel the wedding when Stu arrives, delivers a defiant speech, and insists he's wild, impressing Fong who gives his blessing. At the reception, Alan gifts Stu a performance byMike Tyson. Later, Teddy reveals he took pictures on his phone before the battery died. The group agrees to view the photos once before deleting them.
Mike Tyson reprises his role as himself and sings a cover of the 1984Murray Head song "One Night in Bangkok" for the movie.[12][13]
The film is the Hollywood debut of Mason Lee, son of directorAng Lee.[9]
Nick Cassavetes has acameo appearance as a Bangkok tattoo artist.Liam Neeson was initially cast in that role, which was originally envisioned forMel Gibson.[14]
In April 2009, Warner Bros. hiredTodd Phillips, who directedThe Hangover, to write a sequel with Scot Armstrong. The deal, reached two months before the release ofThe Hangover in June 2009, came as result ofThe Hangover's positive screen tests, and a trailer which drew a strong reaction from audiences atShoWest.[16] The writers from the first film, Scott Moore and Jon Lucas, decided not to come back to write the sequel because, according to Lucas, "they were done with that story…and didn't want to just writeHangover sequels their whole careers."[17]
Variety reported in July 2009, that production onThe Hangover 2 would begin in October 2010, for a May 26, 2011 release, following the same production schedule used for the first film.[18] Also in July,Zach Galifianakis stated in an interview withLatino Review that the film will be set inThailand, "Well, I think we're going to Thailand. The problem withHangover 2 is that we have to live up to what we did which is very difficult. So we get, I think, kind of kidnapped. It has nothing to do with the bachelor party. We're definitely not doing that again but we do end up in an exotic place. That's all I know."[19]
In January 2010, Phillips dismissed rumors thatZac Efron would join the cast ofThe Hangover 2, thoughEd Helms stated that Efron would be a welcomed addition, commenting, "I love that guy. He's actually really funny."[20]
In March 2010, Phillips denied reports that the film would take place inMexico or Thailand stating, "I don't know. There's a lot of rumors. There was rumor also that it was going to Mexico or something and neither are true."[21] Also by March, Galifianakis, Helms,Bradley Cooper, andJustin Bartha completed negotiations and signed deals to reprise their roles in the sequel.[4]
Cooper stated that "we made [the] decision early on" to keep the same plot structure. "I remember we did this photo shoot forVanity Fair and that was when we first talked about a sequel in a realistic way; and we were all in the room together afterwards and we were saying 'here's the choice: do we stray from the structure or do we run straight for it?' And we all agreed, no question about it, we hadn't earned the ability to take these 3 guys out and put them in a new structure. There needs to be a ticking clock, there needs to be a missed night and there needs to be someone who's gone and a woman who is waiting to get married and a guy who needs to get married."[22]
In June 2010, before accepting the Guy Movie of the Year award on the Spike Guys Choice Awards, Phillips announced that there would be aHangover 2 and that they were hoping to begin filming around October 15, 2010, for a July 4, 2011 weekend release.[23]
In July 2010, it was confirmed that the film would indeed be set in Thailand and earlier comments made by Phillips denying such reports were a deliberate case of misdirection.[24] The following month, Bradley Cooper stated he believed the rumors to be true and was looking forward to filmingThe Hangover 2 in Thailand.[25]
In October 2010, Phillips confirmed that the film would take place inBangkok and Los Angeles and that Galifianakis, Cooper, Helms andKen Jeong would be returning.[5]
On a budget of $80 million,[26]principal photography began on October 8, 2010, inOntario, California with the first images of production being released a few days later.[27] It was also reported in October that actressHeather Graham would not be reprising her role as Jade from the first film.[28] Later in the same month it was reported thatMel Gibson would have acameo appearance in the film as a Bangkok tattoo artist.[29] Four days later Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures and director Todd Phillips confirmed that Gibson would not be appearing in the film. Phillips stated: "I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of [WB president] Jeff Robinov and his team. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew."[30]
Liam Neeson replaced Gibson after being invited by Cooper, who worked with Neeson onThe A-Team, to take the part. Neeson, a fan of the first film stated, "I just got a call to do a one-day shoot on 'Hangover 2' as a tattooist in Thailand, and that's all I know about it."[31] Although, Neeson had filmed his scenes, his cameo was edited out when director Todd Phillips was forced to do reshoots and Neeson was not available. He was replaced by Nick Cassavetes.[32]
In November 2010, it was reported thatJamie Chung had been cast in the film as Stu's fiancée as well as it being renamed,The Hangover Part II.[8] In an interview director Todd Phillips revealed thatMike Tyson would be back in the sequel.[12] Also in November, it was reported thatPaul Giamatti had joined the cast.[7] The next day it was reported that formerU.S. PresidentBill Clinton filmed a cameo appearance for the film in Bangkok while he was in the city to deliver a speech on clean energy.[33] Ed Helms clarified that Clinton merely visited the set and would be surprised if he appeared in the film.[34]
In December 2010, it was reported thatBryan Callen, who played the owner of thewedding chapel inThe Hangover, is working again inThe Hangover Part II, as "a smarmy strip club owner in Bangkok."[10] Also in December, Australian stuntman Scott McLean was seriously injured in a traffic accident while filming a stunt sequence near Bangkok. Warner Bros. issued a statement stating McLean was put into a medically induced coma but is expected to recover.[35]
Bradley Cooper said that "logistically, to get from point A to point B [was] incredibly difficult and the bureaucracy and getting things done. There are always tons of people around the set and Todd loves a lean set and it was always the opposite, so watching a director deal with that—especially when it was Todd Phillips—was interesting." He then went on to say, in a later part of the interview, that "it was the hardest shoot that I had ever done, that Zach had ever done, that Ed had ever done and that Todd had ever done."[22]
In February 2011, it was reported thatChristophe Beck would be reteaming with director Todd Phillips toscore the film. The project marks the fourth collaboration between Beck and Philips, who also worked together onSchool for Scoundrels,The Hangover andDue Date.[36]
In April 2011,Variety reported that Liam Neeson's cameo as a Bangkok tattoo artist had been accidentally cut andNick Cassavetes had been re-cast in the role. While editing, Phillips cut the scene that immediately followed Neeson's cameo, meaning it no longer had the information necessary to logically get the main characters to the situation in the next scene. Three weeks later, Phillips decided to reshoot the scene, but with Neeson in London filmingWrath of the Titans, the actor was no longer available. Phillips explained, "We were in a complete time crunch so I called up Nick and asked if he would do the part. He came in and crushed it and that is the scene that you will ultimately see in the film. [I'm excited for everyone] to see the film. It turned out great".[14]
The soundtrack was released on May 24, 2011, byWaterTower Music. The soundtrack contains 12 songs from the film, along with eight dialogue clips from the film. Though the song "Monster", byKanye West featuringJay-Z,Rick Ross,Bon Iver, andNicki Minaj, was featured in the film, it does not appear on the soundtrack.
Among the songs included on the album isEd Helms' version of theBilly Joel song "Allentown",[37] rewritten in the spirit of his popular "Stu's Song" from the soundtrack of 2009'sThe Hangover. Additional music includes a song fromDanzig, along with music from the Ska Rangers,Kanye West,Mark Lanegan,Deadmau5,Wolfmother, Billy Joel, and more.[38]
The Hangover Part II held itspremiere on May 19, 2011, atGrauman's Chinese Theatre inHollywood, California.[39][40] And it was theatrically released on May 26, 2011, in the United States.
The first teaser trailer was released online in February 2011.[41] The first full trailer was released in April 2011.[41] Later in the same monthWarner Bros. pulled the trailer from theaters for violating anMPAA rule stating that films can only trailer before similarly rated movies. The trailer for the R-rated comedy was being promoted at screenings for the PG-13-ratedSource Code against MPAA regulations. Warner Bros. released a statement saying, "In our haste to meet the placement schedule for this trailer, we failed to properly vet the final version with the MPAA. We acted immediately to correct the mistake and removed the trailer from screens".[42]
In the film, Stu wakes up with a copy of Mike Tyson's tattoo. In April 2011, tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill, who designed and inked Tyson's tattoo, fileda lawsuit against Warner Bros. for copyright infringement, requesting aninjunction against using the tattoo in the movie or its promotional materials. Warner Bros. asserted several defenses, including that tattoos are not copyrightable. JudgeCatherine D. Perry denied the injunction due to harm to other businesses but allowed the case to go forward, calling most of the arguments put forward by Warner Bros. were "just silly" and affirming the copyrightability of tattoos.[43][44] Warner Bros. said it would digitally modify the tattoo in the home video release if no agreement was reached;[45] it settled with Whitmill on June 20 under undisclosed terms.[46]
In 2011, Scott McLean, an Australian stuntman who was injured and suffered brain damage while filming in Bangkok sued Warner Bros. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, though several years later McLean was still fighting Warner Bros, who were disputing ongoing medical costs incurred in treatment for the injuries he sustained at work.[47]
In June 2012, Warner Bros. successfully defended a lawsuit brought against them byLouis Vuitton over the use of a fake case in one scene.[48]
The Hangover Part II was released onDVD andBlu-ray on December 6, 2011, in the United States byWarner Home Video, on December 5 in the United Kingdom and on November 30 in the Netherlands. The film was made available in four formats: DVD,UMD, Blu-ray, and a Blu-ray combo pack which included both high- and standard-definition versions of the film and anUltraVioletdigital copy of the film. It was the last movie to officially be released on UMD for thePlayStation Portable.[49]
The Hangover Part II grossed $254.5 million in North America and $332.3 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $586.8 million, against a budget of $80 million.[2] It was theeighth-highest-grossing film of 2011.[50] In its opening weekend, it earned $177.8 million, which was the highest-grossing worldwide opening for a comedy film.[51] On the weekend of June 17–19, 2011, it out-grossed its predecessor in worldwide earnings to become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time.[52]
The film was released on Thursday, May 26, 2011, in North America, coinciding with the U.S.Memorial Day weekend.[53] During launch midnight showings in 2,600 theaters, the film earned $10.4 million, breaking the record for the biggest midnight opening for an R-rated film, replacingParanormal Activity (2007) with $6.3 million.[53] The film opened in a further 1,015 theaters during the launch day for a total of 3,615—becoming the widest opening ever for an R-rated film[54]—and earned a further $21.2 million to accrue a launch-day total of $31.6 million;[53][55] nearly doublingThe Hangover's Friday launch opening ($16.7 million). By this point, it had the third-highest Thursday opening of any film, behindThe Matrix Reloaded ($37.5 million) andStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith ($50 million).[56]
This amount broke two further records; the highest-grossing opening day for a live-action comedy[56] and the highest-grossing opening day for an R-rated comedy film, replacingSex and the City (2008) with $26.7 million.[53] According toexit polling, the launch day audience was 51 percent female and 41 percent were aged between 18 and 24.[53] On May 27, the film took an additional $30.0 million, dropping only 5 percent from the takings of the previous day and becoming the highest-grossing Friday for a live-action comedy.[57] The three-day (Friday–Sunday) opening weekend accumulated $85,946,294—an average of $23,923 per theater[2]—becoming the highest-grossing opening weekend for a comedy film,[53] the highest-grossing opening weekend for a live-action comedy, replacingAustin Powers in Goldmember ($73 million),[58] the highest-grossing opening weekend for an R-rated comedy, replacingSex and the City ($79 million)[53] and the second-highest-grossing opening weekend of all time for an R-rated film, afterThe Matrix Reloaded ($91.7 million).[59][60]
For the Memorial Day four-day weekend, the film amassed $103.4 million to become the fourth-highest-grossing Memorial Day weekend opening.[61] In its second weekend the film gross dropped 64 percent from the previous weekend—while the original film dropped only 27 percent during its second weekend—and grossed $31.4 million.[62][63]The film ended its box office run on September 15, 2011, on 113th day of its release.[2]
The Hangover Part II debuted in 40 countries internationally over the weekend of May 26–29, 2011, across 5,170 screens.[53] In total, the film accrued $60.3 million[61] from its Friday-through-Monday opening weekend, more than tripling the international gross ofThe Hangover's debut in the same territories.[61] The highest weekend gross came from theUnited Kingdom where the film earned £10,409,017[64][65] from 469 screens, breaking the record for the highest-grossing opening for a U.S. comedy,[66] but this record was overtaken byThe Inbetweeners Movie (£13,216,736[67]). Australia accrued a gross of $12.1 million to replaceSex and the City in the country as the highest-grossing opening for anMA-rated film—no-one under the age of 15 permitted.[68]
The film took $8.7 million in the Netherlands and $6.2 million in France and $3.1 million in Italy ($4.6 million with previews); a five-fold increase over the opening-weekend gross ofThe Hangover.[69] On its second weekend, the film accrued $63.8 million from 53 territories, placing it second behindPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the film having earned 79 percent of its predecessor's entire overseas run.[70] On the weekend of June 10–12, 2011, it surpassed its predecessor andThere's Something About Mary in international earnings to become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy overseas.[71][72]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval percentage of 35% based on 246 reviews, with the critics consensus reading: "A crueler, darker, raunchier carbon copy of the first installment,The Hangover Part II lacks the element of surprise -- and most of the joy -- that helped make the original a hit."[73] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 44 out of 100 based on 40 critic reviews, meaning "Mixed or Average".[74] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[75]
Andrew Barker ofVariety gave the film a middling review, stating, "The stock dismissal 'more of the same' has rarely been more accurately applied to a sequel than toThe Hangover Part II, which ranks as little more than a faded copy of its predecessor superimposed on a more brightly colored background".[76]Christy Lemire of theAssociated Press said, "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".[77]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars out of four stating, "The Hangover Part II plays like a challenge to the audience's capacity for raunchiness. It gets laughs, but some of them are in disbelief".[78]
Conversely, Michael Rechtshaffen ofThe Hollywood Reporter gaveThe Hangover Part II a positive review remarking, "What happens in Bangkok isn't as much fun as when it happened in Vegas, but it's still worth the trip".[79]
Crystal, acapuchin monkey who also appeared in theNight at the Museumfilms, portrays the drug-dealing monkey. Director Todd Phillips raised concerns after he joked that Crystal had become addicted to cigarettes after learning to smoke them for the film. Philips later explained that Crystal never actually held a lit cigarette on the film's set and the smoke was added digitally in post-production. Despite this,PETA protested about Crystal's appearance in the film for use of exotic animals for entertainment purposes and the film does not carry theAmerican Humane Association's disclaimer that "no animals were harmed" since the group was denied set visits.[80]
In an interview withNew York magazine, Ken Jeong responded to criticisms of the character Mr. Chow as an offensive caricature and stated doing the character was "very cathartic" for him and said the character "has the inflections of Vietnamese, with kind of the anger of my own Korean nature" although "it's definitely not about an accent, or a stereotype."[81]
As the film comes to a close, many photos are revealed depicting the events of the previous night. Among them is a photo where Phil points a gun at Chow's head, mimickingEddie Adams' famous photograph of theExecution of Nguyễn Văn Lém during theVietnam War. Film criticRoger Ebert was amongst those who criticized use of the photo, calling it "a cruel shot that director Todd Phillips should never, ever have used."[78]
| Group | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Teen Choice Awards[82] | Choice Movie Actor: Comedy | Ed Helms | Nominated |
| Choice Movie Actor: Comedy | Zach Galifianakis | Nominated | |
| Choice Movie: Chemistry | Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis | Nominated | |
| Choice Hissy Fit | Ed Helms | Won | |
| Choice Movie: Male Scene Stealer | Ken Jeong | Nominated | |
| Choice Movie: Female Scene Stealer | Crystal the Monkey | Nominated | |
| 2012 People's Choice Awards[83] | Favorite Comedy Movie | Nominated | |
| Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast | Nominated | ||
| Favorite Comedic Movie Actor | Bradley Cooper | Nominated | |
| 32nd Golden Raspberry Awards[84] | Worst Supporting Actor | Ken Jeong | Nominated |
| Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel | Nominated | ||
| MTV Movie Awards[85] | Best Comedic Performance | Zach Galifianakis | Nominated |
Exit polling showed that 51% of the audience was female, and 41% of moviegoers were aged 18 to 24 and 13% were under 18.
