The Hangover Part II... and something extra.

“The Hangover” was one of those rare comedies that was both a really interesting and well executed idea that made for an astoundingly good movie, as well as being a good bet for big box office with raunchy jokes and the fan base of “Daily Show” and “The Office” regular Ed Helms, as well as cult stand up comedian Zach Galifianakis. Its premise of three guys that had a crazy night in Vegas that they couldn’t remember is just a great concept and I really enjoyed it. That said, it really didn’t lend itself to a sequel, and that really shows in the one we got.
I’m not really going to say much here. There really is nothing to say about this movie other than it’s a slightly less funny version of the first one set in Bangkok, Thailand instead of Las Vegas, and instead of looking for their friend Doug, they’re looking for Ed Helm’s future brother in law. All the returning cast is just as good as they were last time and the new additions are for the most part barely in the movie. The jokes are pretty much either clones of the first movie’s jokes or just the guys talking about the first movie’s events. I mean it was nice to see how these characters have all dealt with it after the fact, but it just really made me wish I was watching the first movie because this movie is just a big retread of all the major plot point of the first one. It is a competent comedy but the first one was much better and director Todd Phillip’s last movie “Due Date” was far far funnier than this. If you really really want to see these three twits stumble their way through another retrace our steps type mystery comedy, that’s fine, but do yourself a favor and save the $11 dollars for a theater ticket and just wait for DVD.

“The Hangover part 2” gets

2 next day surprises out of 5.

So since there really isn’t that much to say about “The Hangover part 2”, and I don’t want to leave you with just half of a review, let’s talk Direct to DVD! In the realm of superheroes, both Marvel and DC are starting to do more and more with major feature films involving their stables of heroes. Marvel I’ve already talked about, but DC has been another story entirely. In recent film history the only big movie success they’ve had has been the Christopher Nolan helmed “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, and the “Watchmen” adaptation that Zack Snyder did. However, aside from Snyder’s film they’ve had a little bit more trouble with their non-Batman main heroes. “Superman Returns” was a huge let down and was pretty much a weak rehash of the plot to the first movie, and all attempts to make a Wonder Woman movie have failed resulting in a compromise TV show premiering this fall. They seem to be headed in the right direction this summer with the first live action Green Lantern movie, but the proof will be in the pudding there, though I’m remaining optimistic.
Where DC is having much better success, is in the direct to video animated films, such as “The Death Of Superman” and “Green Lantern: First Flight”. These movies are made more for the fans of the comics and thus don’t really have to over explain origins or the like so they have a little more breathing room since they know the audience is going to be people that know the basics anyway. They’ve been all pretty entertaining for the most part with really good animation and voice acting, not to mention some of the most kick ass action I’ve seen in anything animated not originally from Japan. Thus we come to their latest release “All Star Superman” based on the comic series of the same name written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely.
Now, I’m going to say something here, my all time favorite super hero movie is Richard Donner’s “Superman The Movie”. I saw it at a very young age and it’s a movie that I always know can cheer me up. It has amazing visuals that I honestly say still hold up today, not to mention the performances were all really really good and it really made Superman an interesting and well rounded character. The irony is that if there is one comic book character I don’t really like reading, it’s Superman. That’s just a general preference, but to me, a lot of the times I find his books a little boring because he’s so powerful that it just gets absurd or boring because you know he’ll win some way, some how thanks to his powers, resulting in lack of tension. There are however, two exceptions so far that I have really enjoyed reading, “Superman for all seasons” in which his early life and career as the man of steel is told, where he feels like a real human character. The other being “All Star Superman” which I only finished reading recently.
The premise, more or less done here in the movie, is that Superman rescues the first manned mission to the Sun and in the process is over exposed to the solar radiation that give him his power. This results in him being stronger than he has ever been before, but he’s also slowly dying. What follows are some of the most amazing feats Superman has ever performed, as well as some very nice pay off to his romance with Lois Lane and getting to see this character, that’s been called a god among men and other things of the like, deal with his inevitable death. Without spoiling anything the comic is really really worth a look if you enjoy the medium and the movie is most definitely worth a watch.
The animation recreates Quitely’s art from the comics flawlessly, and the action scenes are really well done. All the voice actors sound really believable in the parts and the script is a very faithful adaptation of Morrison’s story.
All that said, there are some hiccups here and there. My favorite part of the story, involving superman saving the Earth from the Bizarro home world and then having to escape is not here, it’s a shame though not a total deal breaker. Also, since the story was released as what is essentially a mini series, the issues were all for the most part episodic with the running theme of Superman accomplishing his most amazing feats connecting them together. It works fine in a serialized comic, but not quite as a 90 minute movie. It isn’t a real bad thing but it doesn’t really feel like a solid narrative structure.
So if you’re a fan of Superman, or a fan of animation, I say check it out. Just keep an open mind and don’t let the somewhat choppy nature of the story line deter you.

I give “All Star Superman”

4 Moments of Awesome out of 5