ComingSoon.net has just confirmed that the sequel for The Hangover will be in Thailand! There were rumors that it was going to be in Mexico, which would have worked just as well, but director Todd Phillips decided on Thailand. I think this is a great idea because the culture is vastly different and whatever trouble the guys get into would be completely out of the ordinary for them. I foresee Alan unknowingly hooking up with a tranny! Ha!
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ReplyDeleteI think this is a terrible idea as a whole. No way the sequel will top the 1st one. I think by doing a sequel it will take away somewhat of how great the 1st one was. In my opinion The Hangover is in the ranks of Animal House and Old School. Both great movies. Even greater because they didn't do a sequel. If you a sequel to Animal House or Old School was made, it just wouldn't work. Just because a movie does great at the box office and overall was an awesome flick doesn't mean you HAVE to follow it up with a sequel.
ReplyDeleteOther examples I would throw out there are Harold and Kumar, Home Alone, and Problem Child. All good movies but the sequels were sub par at best and were only done BECAUSE of BOX OFFICE success, not because of creativity or evolution of the charcters in the 1st one. With the movies I just mentioned (and now you can throw in The Hangover), I'm willing to bet a shitload of money that when the writers 1st sat down to write the originals they weren't writing them in hopes of making a sequel so the characters or story can evolve.
Justin,
ReplyDeleteI hear what you're saying and those thoughts crossed my mind as well (regarding the sequel). However, in all fairness we have to see a trailer first before we can make any kind of judgments. I completely agree with you that Phillips and the writers never imagined making a sequel but that's the Hollywood works these days. Once something great comes out these studios feel compelled to make a sequel so they can make even more money. In a lot of cases you're also correct that certain movies don't need a sequel coz they're great as is. Problem Child didn't need one. Harold and Kumar didn't as well. As for Home Alone, I really liked the sequel. The third one sucked so that doesn't count. A sequel for Old School would have never worked because it was about those guys in that particular moment of time in their life. The movie was about Mitch aka The Godfather and helping him get back on his feet, which did happen.
I fully trust Phillips & the writers coz they know what and whom they’re working with. The formula has already been laid out. Now all they have to do is see how much farther they can go. They'll definitely want to push, if not step over, the line, which they should rightfully do so in order to make a the best type of sequel. Sequels are funny thing because it could go either way and I’ll be the first to admit that. Let's first look at two huge franchises for second: The Godfather and Rocky. When a sequel was announced for the Godfather you probably would have had the same reaction. I know would have. To make a sequel of one of the best movies EVER is EXTREMELY ballsy. But as luck and skill would have it we got an AMAZING Part II, which rivals the first one in certain peoples point of view. We got to see Vito when he was young and Michael in full absolute power. So we got a different take on the same characters.
Rocky, on the other hand, had room to grow which made the sequels not surprising but rather inevitable. However, that still didn't mean they were going to be good. All of the Rocky's, except for V, were done with style and stayed true to the overall essence of the character and story. Let us not forget about The Terminator franchise. T2 was an excellent film because we also got to see the continuation of the story. It was filmed 7 years later, which meant better graphics for the film itself and in terms of the character Sarah Connor evolved into a completely different person than who she was in the first film. This shouldn’t suggest that T3 was good because it wasn’t but Terminator: Salvation was a nice tribute to the original and restored hope and faith into the franchise.
I couldn't post my entire response as one due to character restriction so here is the rest...
ReplyDeleteX2-X-Men United was also another film that was great and it superseded the first film. It had better fight scenes, better graphics, more mutants, etc etc. While that franchise was obviously going to have a sequel it didn’t guarantee it was going to be good. Lastly, there are the Bad Boys films. Both films are great action films. They are creative and have original touches of comedy… no doubt about it. The chemistry between Martin Lawrence and Will Smith is so strong that a sequel, which was 8 years after the original, sounded like a good idea and it was. Bad Boys II had a shitload of more action and it was funnier than the first, in my opinion. (I mean who didn’t initially laugh their ass off when Martin Lawrence was on ecstasy?) All the while it stayed true to the overall essence of the characters and story.
I think the actors in The Hangover know they do have something special and put full trust in the writers and director Todd Phillips. Like I said, there is part of me that is worried about it. It is a big undertaking especially in terms of money and box office success of the first one. However, I believe this is why Phillips chose the setting to be in Thailand. Thailand would be such a culture shock to those characters that the writers could easily come up with good comical material. If it were set in Mexico it would too close to home for the characters. I hope that this sequel falls into the category of better sequels and not the one of shitty ones.