The soundtrack for The Hangover, Pt. 2, the sequel to 2009’s over the top tale of a roofie-soaked Las Vegas bachelor party bender, follows the same template as its predecessor, balancing topic-relevant party jams, parodies, and brooding ballads into a heady brew of pop culture synergy. Once again, the '80s are alive and well, with Mike Tyson, who was previously seen throwing down some seriously passionate air drums on the breakdown of the
Phil Collins classic “In the Air Tonight,” lending his patented one-too-many-haymakers-to-the-head slur to a remake of “One Night in Bangkok,” the left-field 1984 hit from the
Benny Andersson,
Björn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice-penned rock musical Chess, and a narrative fixation on the music of
Billy Joel provides the 1989 hit “The Downeaster 'Alexa',” a cover of “Just the Way You Are" by the Ska Rangers (they also riff on
A Flock of Seagulls' “I Ran”), and a heavily improvised, darkly comical rendition of “Allentown” by star Ed Helms. Elsewhere,
Danzig provides the film with an original song, the appropriately dark and bluesy “Black Hell,” while
Mark Lanegan offers up a moody take on
Nick Lowe's “The Beast in Me.” Dizzying, unpredictable, nausea-inducing, and occasionally a whole of fun, The Hangover, Pt. 2 more than lives up to its name. ~ James Christopher Monger