The summer is finally here!! And we all know what that means...warm weather, barbecues, beautiful beaches, cool pools, and summer blockbusters!  The movie industry loves to put out some of the hit- makers that will earn big bucks during the summer months and one sure fire way to draw people into the theaters (besides the air-conditioning)...sequels.  There are a few movies that I have been looking forward to the summer bringing, and to kick things off I went to see The Hangover Part II.

I hadn't seen the first installment of The Hangover in theaters but watched it on DVD.  Having seen the first part, I was excited to see The Hangover Part II and see what the guys, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis), and Doug (Justin Bartha) had gotten themselves into this time.  I found The Hangover to be incredibly entertaining but not quite as funny as most people thought the first part to be.  It did, however, make an impact on me for being so unpredictable and original.  If you know the story, then you know in the first part Doug is getting married on the day following his bachelor party (which most people do) however in this case the guys have a crazy and wild night in Vegas and wake up with the worst hangover in history.  When they wake up the next morning they can't remember a single thing from the night before and worst of all...the groom is missing.  So they spend the movie trying to piece together what happened which they hope leads them to finding Doug. 

The great thing about this movie is that as they learn what happened the night before, so does the audience.  The audience is brought along for the wild and crazy ride!

Part II has basically the same premise as the first one except this time Stu is getting married to Lauren (Jaime Chung) and the movie is set in Thailand.  This time the madness ensues in Bangkok when Phil, Stu, and Alan lose Lauren's brother, Teddy (Mason Lee) after a night that starts out calmly around a bonfire on the beach.  So again the guys try to retrace their steps and fill in the blanks to find Teddy before the wedding.  I thought the film was entertaining and full of laughs.  I personally felt I laughed more this time around but that this time the film seemed to fly by and was perhaps shorter.  A sequel often has a hard time living up to the success of the original but I think this one managed to come pretty close. 

A great way to start the summer! See it! Check out the trailer here: