"The Hangover Part II" - in theaters

I'm going to admit something up front: I didn't pay too close attention during this film to give a good review. Here's the deal: I was in Florida and coming down with some sort of sickness, so the entire time, my body was aching, my throat hurt, and I was FREEZING. The only thing that I could think was, "Please God, let this movie end soon so I can go outside and get warm".

That being said, this movie was so comparable to the first, that it's ridiculous. The main thing in this sequel is that Stu (Ed Helms) is the one getting married, and he's doing so in Thailand. What starts off as innocent, on the beach drinks with Phil (Bradley Cooper), Alan (Zack Galifianakis), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Teddy (Mason Lee), the bride's (Jamie Chung) younger brother, soon finds the "wolf pack" waking up in a dilapidated old hotel in Bangkok. Also with them is Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), who apparently picked them up in his speedboat at some point during the night.

What follows is pretty predictable: Teddy is missing, so the boys try to piece together what happens the night before using the clues from the things they find in their pockets as well as the people that allegedly saw them the night before. The stuff that went down was CRAZY. Seriously, more so than in the original, but the filmmakers had to go there, or else it would simply be the same film, done twice.

I was surprised by how many different penises showed up in this film. It's somewhat refreshing to see male nudity as opposed to female. But on the other hand, did I really need to see all those penises? I think not.

The character of Alan really went up a notch for this one. The best way I can describe him is as a possessive, childish, douchebag. It's a little ridiculous, and I wish that Zach would have stayed with the original Alan formula, as it was much more endearing.

On the CWeave scale, I give this movie a 6.5. I probably should see it again due to the sickness that was overtaking my body, but I don't think I will. At least, not until it comes out on Netflix. Sorry Bradley Cooper :(

"The A-Team" - in theaters

I believe that I'm too young to have been a fan of the TV show "The A-Team", but I did know that Mr. T played B.A. Baracus, and that pretty much sold me on the idea of a film version. I mean, anything involving Mr. T has to be great, right? (Please note the sarcasm...)

I don't know how much this film complemented it's television predecessor, but I will say that it was one heck of a fun ride.

You meet the first of the A-Team in a dilapidated warehouse in the middle of Mexico. Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson) is handcuffed to a chair, getting the snot kicked out of him. He's in Mexico to rescue his comrade, Face (i.e. Bradley Cooper) who recklessly went after a Mexican general on his own. After Smith escapes the handcuffed chair (and why wouldn't he?), he runs into B.A. Baracus (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson), basically carjacks him, rescues Face, then goes to a mental hospital to spring Murdock (Sharlto Copley), an insane pilot. And thus, the four become a team.

Fast forward 8 years, and they're all in Iraq in the last days of the occupation. Suddenly, they get a mission that everyone is telling them not to do, but non-verbally telling them to do it. So they do, then get framed for murder and sent to jail. With the help of Agent Lynch (Patrick Wilson) of the CIA, they bust out in pursuit of vengeance. And this is all within the first 45 minutes.

Needless to say that this movie is filled with action, most of which is pretty spectacular. The only time when I was sort of "meh" about the effects was during the L.A. dock scene that concerned all of the steel cartons. If you see the film, you'll know what I'm talking about.

But even more than the action, I really appreciated the characters. I thought they were all done very well. Liam Neeson is a totally believable action hero, with his cigar and croaky voice. Bradley Cooper was all sorts of tan and very muscular, with a penchant for not wearing his shirt. He was also cocky as hell, and had some of the best lines. Jackson was tough, and I really wouldn't want to cross him, but he's also vulnerable, being very open about his fear of flying. And Sharlto Copley was hysterically funny as a mostly sane man with slightly insane flying techniques.

The only character that I could have done without was Jessica Biel's character. She was purely one-dimensional and peripheral, and whose only purpose seemed to be to give Face some romantic credibility.

So on the CWeave scale, I rate this movie an 8. Good action, lots of laughs, and a shirtless Bradley Cooper. And that's really all I need in my life.