It’s hard to believe how bad this movie is.

This reviewer, like millions of people in 2009, laughed uproariously when The Hangover came out. It was gross and rude, but a breath of fresh air, a flash of lightning captured. It earned close to $500 million around the world so a sequel was inevitable.

However, The Hangover Part II is the worst sequel so far this year. It’s an unimaginative rehash of the first one, instead this time Ed Helms’ character is getting married in Thailand. He, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis are suppose to have one beer on the beach, but then they wake up hung over in Bangkok.

They can’t remember what happened. Helms has a facial tattoo, his future brother-in-law is missing, although his finger is there, Galifianakis’s hair is shaved off and there’s a nasty monkey. They start retracing their steps through the mayhem they created overnight. It includes Russian gangsters, Ken Jeong’s near death experience with drugs, a transvestite hooker, Thai monks who’ve taken a vow of silence and Paul Giamatti as a pretend nasty gangster.

The laughs are few and far between. Galifianakis, who was hilarious in the first film, is mostly just rude and stupid this time out. Someone should call the SPCA about how that poor monkey is treated. You learn that Mike Tyson, in a cameo, can’t sing and that you can’t capture lightning in a bottle twice. Watch the original again and don’t waste your money.

Rating: one deer out of five

Next Week on Video

The Cohen bothers do an enjoyable remake of True Grit.

Alf Cryderman is a Red Deer freelance writer and old movie buff.