I almost wanted to walk out of Todd Phillip‘s latest, The Hangover Part II. The director was clearly making a nod to Francis Ford Coppola‘s indelible The Godfather Part II with its use of roman numerals, but it is there that any similarities between the two films end. The film was downright awful, pitifully unfunny, and nothing but a mere shadow of its past self. It so unabashedly borrowed the original’s formula that the film lost all its spunk and ingenuity from its opening minutes. This didn’t didn’t faze American audiences, however, who collectively contributed to a national cume of $135 million. That, my friends, is a remarkable sum of money.
Indiewire.com reported today that Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures are planning a third film (obviously), but who would have thought that they would hire Craig Mazin (The Hangover Part II, Scary Movie 3 and 4) again? All of his films, in my opinion, suck the fun out of the moviegoing experience and instead aim for the lowest, grossest common denominator. I just wish the studio trusted its audience to grasp concepts and ideas that had time to evolve and surprise. It is precisely these ideals that made the first film such an outrageous, massive success. The second one was a lazy, cash-grab, sucker punch to the heart of America. Worst part is, I don’t think the majority of The Hangover Part II audience was even aware.
The Hangover scribes Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, both busy with their respective careers, will be sorely missed when the 3rd film comes around. Maybe, just maybe, Craig Mazin will take the time to develop some new ideas to reinvigorate this fledgling, yet lucrative, franchise.
