Hangover 2
Well, I've been waiting for months now for the movie Hangover 2 to be released. It opened May 26th. I was at my theater for the first run on the first day. My curiosity was killing me. I'd seen the trailers leading up to the release
date. After viewing the trailer, I already realized that the storyline would be very similar to the first Hangover movie. I had been wondering if many of the sex areas would be shown in the movie, and that most of my friends viewing it would suddenly
get a whole new perspective of the Thailand I'd been visiting. Yes, there was a brief gogo bar scene that looked like it had been shot in Soi Cowboy. In the movie, there was an Arab guy in the scene and I couldn't help wonder if this
was based on the the Arab bar owner that Sticks mentions frequently. Yeah, you could see a few girls up there dancing, but it wasn't really over the top. Not unlike many strip clubs in the U. S. The dancers looked OK, but no real stunners.
The movie made Bangkok seem rather seedy, not unlike the movie Bangkok Dangerous, I think the movie producers are trying to capture that feel. A movie shot in broad daylight at Siam Center just wouldn't cut it. I kept thinking that my friends
viewing this are going to think Bangkok is pretty seedy and third world and that this would not make them want to race to the airport ticket counter and buy tickets.
Overall, I really did enjoy the movie. I thought it was the perfect sequel to the first one. I was already familiar with the characters from the first movie. Of course, like everything else in life, everyone's got their opinion and some
may like it, while others may not. It had a few scenes filmed at the the Sirocco Bar on top of one of one of Bangkok's big hotels. I've been to Bangkok 5 times now. I've known about this place, but never made it up because of the
dress code and the high prices I'd heard about. It does look like a cool spot to take someone on a special night out. I'll have to hit it at least one time on my next trip. It also had some scenes filmed down south somewhere in one of
the beautiful beach areas. I'm sure Stick knows right where it was filmed. These scenes depicted the nicer high end resort areas that exist.
I thought the casting of the girlfriend and girlfriend's father were perfect. Some of the lines were just great. Of course, I knew there would be a ladyboy or two in the script, and sure enough, there was. I was really surprised with
the the frontal nude shots of the ladyboys with their parts hanging out. I'm sure many viewers will be shocked by this. I've read a few reviews and some people were put off with some of the gross male nude scenes. This type of movie
is made to appeal to a younger male dominated audience, so including all this crudeness and vulgarity is basically a requirement nowadays.
Well, will my friends have a clue what it's really like over there by viewing this movie? No way. This doesn't even come close to showing what it's really like in the sex areas. Can you imagine if they shot a little cruise
down Soi 6 in Pattaya, or even parts of Walking Street? Maybe it's best not to show too much of the reality over there. We don't want those planes too backed with guys heading to my little paradise. I mean, the Soi Cowboy bar scene in
the movie was tame compared to the stage in Rainbow 1 packed with 30 to 40 smokin' hot women bumping and grinding. There was a scene at the end where the characters pulled out a camera and took a look at photos from their wild night of fun
that they had forgotten about after heavy drinking. Now, these were more like like it! Now this is what it really can be like over there for the male sex tourist. I know because these could've been scenes from many of my nights out in the
sex areas. The the three letters OMG always come to mind. There was also supposed to be a cameo in the movie by former U. S. President, Bill Clinton. If this scene was shot as previously reported, it ended up on the editing room floor. I can not
in a million years believe that Bill Clinton, as a former U. S President would be in the same movie with frontal ladyboy nudity. It just ain't gonna happen.
This type of movie, typically, is not my cup of tea, but I would really recommend seeing it. Don't know if it's the perfect "Date Night" movie, but I'm 58 and for young people nowadays, it's probably right up
their alley.
So, how would I rate this movie? I'd give it a BIG thumbs up, but when I think of my Bangkok trips in general, the thumb is not the body part that I was thinking would be up.
Stickman's thoughts:
I haven't seen the movie yet, but when I have seen the trailers several times and I don't know why, but I keep thinking that this is "Dana's Thailand". Not sure why, but it kind of presents a crazy view of the country, just as our regular Saturday correspondent does! Come to think of it, "Dana's Thailand" could make a cracking movie!