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Why Thailand can enjoy 'The Hangover Part II' without shame
Hollywood's most highly anticipated summer film offers plenty to cringe at, but little for locals to be annoyed about
Locals with a sense of humor might even feel a sense of pride after watching "The Hangover Part II."
Would they rub their blurry eyes trying to remember what happened and why they were here? Would friends and family back home find confirmation of the degenerate lifestyles they must be leading?
On the flip side, would Thais find themselves faced with a new affront to their culture, yet another depiction of Thailand as a reservoir of depravity?
Mai pen rai, na. Never mind.
"The Hangover Part II," probably the most high-profile film ever to feature the Land of Smiles, is fun, if not always that funny.
Simultaneously a postcard capturing Thailand’s beauty, an advertisement for its tourism industry and a gritty clip of its unlimited potential for misadventure, Hollywood's most highly anticipated summer film offers plenty to cringe at, but little to be annoyed about.
From the get-go, the film is unapologetic. Have no doubt, the formula that worked so well the first time is repeated precisely: there's a drug-fuelled night before a wedding, a key person missing and no one knows where he is.
The same group of numskulls is back and the plot will keep you wondering both what's going to happen next but also what the hell happened.
Indeed, the only real difference is the setting; it’s Bangkok not Vegas this time around, and therein lies our good luck.
More on CNNGo: Follow the wolf pack's Thailand trail
Although there is a disappointing lack of Thai actors in the film, Bangkok becomes the movie's most interesting character. "The Hangover Part II" gets a lot of its details right and the film is more interesting for us as a result.
Anyone who has spent time in a Thai police station can relate to the wolf pack's dealings with Bangkok's boys in brown.
Sure, a Thai policeman’s British accent is ridiculous, but the joke the film makes out of him is spot-on: he’s knowingly incompetent and couldn't care less about these foolish foreigners and their missing friend.
What unravels as Stu, Alan, Phil and the Chinese gangster Chow bounce from one mishap to another is hardly worth explaining and not always that inspired.
There’s a cigarette-addicted, drug-dealing monkey, Russian mafia, go-go bars and many of the clichés you might expect (positive ones too). There are some awkward scenes in a tattoo parlor and a temple, and (offscreen) sex with a ladyboy.
Are we sick and twisted for not being more shocked? Nah. The lack of a moral compass is precisely what elevated the original movie above some of the Brat Pack-Judd Apatow fare of the last five years.
The Hangover films aren’t about a guy cutting loose, able to return to his wife only after having purged himself of his desire to act like a child. There’s no marital situation or flagging romance dragging down the story.
Instead, these are buddy films more than comedies, with a bunch of morons embracing their own idiocy, and making no excuses for it.
As Phil tells Stu, after one raunchy revelation, don’t get all worked up about it. Just shake it off and forget it. Or hell, just enjoy it.
"The Hangover Part II" is now showing in theaters in Thailand. Visit Movieseer.com for times and cinemas.
