The Minority Report - "The Hangover Part II" (2011)

Sometimes it is not about the destination, it is about the journey; and other times it is about where you end up, not how you got there. “The Hangover Part II” seems to fall into neither of these categories, as the destination and the journey are a photo copied, clone of its predecessor. Want to see the “The Hangover Part II”? I recommend watching “The Hangover,” except add some more penises and a monkey. The plots are identical, the situations are identical, the timing of some of the gags is identical, and the ending is identical. The only thing not shared between both of these films is the amount of laughs. “The Hangover Part II” simply is not as funny and, more importantly, not as memorable.

The plot for this movie is the exact same as the first. Stu (Ed Helms) is getting married. His friends Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis), go to Thailand for the wedding. Surprise, surprise: Stu, Phil, and Alan awake from a drug-induced coma that leaves them amnesic of the prior night’s events, with Stu’s soon-to-be-bride’s little brother missing. It is up to the trio to find the little brother in Bangkok before the wedding.

Simply put, this movie is a clone of the first one and comes off as money hungry. It relies more on sight gags and cheap laughs. Even though the scope of the film is increased, it does not seem to have any direct effect on how gigantic the events were from the original film. It is its own worst enemy. Nothing can top finding out that they stole a cop car and Mike Tyson’s tiger. The expectations were far too high for the sequel to succeed. The themes of the second film were darker in tone and not as playful as the first, and this gives it a tad more personality. This movie overall did make me laugh, but upon a second viewing, it had already lost some of its luster. This movie is like watching someone paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa, changing the original slightly, but, overall, it is the same damned thing.


By V-Dawg

The Minority Report - "The A-Team" (2010)

"I love it when a plan comes together."
As soon as this movie hit theaters, I was ready to see it. I have seen the original series and, considering the fact that it was an influence to the blockbuster series Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13 and the television series Leverage, I was excited to see a full-length feature adaptation. Besides that, it was going to be interesting seeing the casting that took place for B.A. Baracus (Quinton Jackson), a character originally played by Mr. T. So, for father’s day, because my mom and dad were big fans of the original series as well, we headed out to the nearest theater to enjoy.

The movie opens up with the story of how the members of The A-Team found each other. John “Hannibal” Smith (Liam Neeson) makes a plan to take down some criminals in Mexico and, in the process, gets his partner, Tempelton “Face” Peck (Bradley Cooper), caught. He escapes from a trap and heads out through the desert to rescue his friend, where he hijacks a GMC Vandura van (the famous A-Team series van) that is being driven by B.A. Baracus. They immediately bond because of their involvement in the American armed forces (B.A. is in the Rangers). They work together to rescue Face and then flee to pick up a pilot they hired, whom is literally insane. Stopping at a mental institution, they find H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock (Sharlto Copley), feigning that he is a doctor and being dragged away by the medical professionals that are caring for him. They release him into the custody of Hannibal and they all head out in a medical helicopter. As they are taking off, they throw objects off of the helicopter and accidentally destroy the van to the dismay of B.A. Being chased by the criminals in the air now, they escape various missiles and traps by doing aerial acrobatics that leave B.A. terrified of flying, and end up in American airspace, where the Mexican criminals get blown out of the air. Now, they work together doing missions of utmost importance until they are tricked by a group of Black Ops marines and jailed for a crime they did not commit. They then promptly escape from jail and seek to clear their names.

The more I watched this movie, the more fond memories returned of the old series. Even though there is more action involved with the plans that Hannibal concocts, it still retains that spark from the old series. The whole point of the series was to offer up a group of people that acted in a MacGyver-like way to escape from any situation. The critics that you will see around give this movie mixed reviews because they dislike this type of crazy and almost plotless action that resolves itself in a crazy way. I like plotlines that are well set up and this one, surprisingly, is. It remains faithful to the series while adding some new flare that is instantly enjoyable. If you like wacky humor that is honestly funny or crazy antics that could only come from The A-Team, then this movie is for you. This movie is like watching paint dry if the paint runs missions in a covert fashion as it attempts to clear its name.

By Kulguy