Friday May 27th, 2011

UWTL on yet another Friday night. May not be the last time this weekend thanks to the holiday.

This memorial day weekend millions will flock to the apparent comedy event of all time, THE HANGOVER PART II but most of these people will be utterly disappointed in one of the more hyped summer movies in recent memory. I sadly can already be counted as one of them.

Saw the flick Thursday night and though i'd heard some rough things, I was still pretty pumped. I can't say I was as on board with the original as most everyone else back in the summer of '09, but I enjoyed the shit out of it and could definitely get on board with another ride with these oddly likable characters. To an extent, this is all I could take away from it's sequel. There's an attachment to these characters that is rare in big summer blockbusters. I mean does anyone give a shit about Sam in the Transformers movies? Not so much, though that will certainly be put to the test in a few weeks with the 3rd installment of Michael Bay's car/ robots blow shit up epic franchise.

Again, the connection and general empathy for the characters/ performers in this newly minted, and unlikely to die anytime soon, franchise, is most of what makes the movie even watchable. yes the thing looks pretty awesome, and yes there are a handful of great jokes. But overall, repeating the same structure and story beat for beat makes for a restless couple hours, full of glaring plot holes and empty cameos. As a writer, and a general lover of quality entertainment, it's really hard for me to buy something that entirely apes it's predecessor, with minimal to no concern for concocting a somewhat compelling and interesting story for the paying customer to invest in and enjoy. Whatever you want to say about the first film comedy-wise, this was something it's script had in spades. A genuine mystery, where you never quite new where things were going to go or what whacky turn the story was going to make next. This one sucks all the joys of that out of it, and is probably the only movie in recent memory to feature the great Paul Giamatti in an entirely forgettable, throwaway role.

It's sad to say, but who would have thunk that DUE DATE would be the best Phillips/ Galifianakis flick of the pair. At least that one ripped off a movie from over 20 years ago, that was in an entirely different franchise.

So for all the rest of millions who flock to the theaters to be wowed yet again by the wolf pack. I implore you to soak in the few moments before the lights go down and the coming attractions run along, and enjoy that moment, cause that will be the best moment of the moviegoing experience, almost without a doubt.