Think Like a Man Too treads on the familiar

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      Starring Kevin Hart and Gabrielle Union. Rated PG. Now playing

      Stories about Vegas bachelor parties gone wild are threatening to become their very own genre. There’s the Hangover series for hipster goofballs, Last Vegas for the Early Bird Special crowd, and now, Think Like a Man Too, a movie that gets most of its energy from a jive-talking best man (Ride Along’s Kevin Hart) determined to deliver the best bachelor party ever.

      Don’t worry if you haven’t seen Think Like A Man. Although this sequel features many of the same characters, the storyline is both familiar and completely self-sufficient. Michael (Terrence Jenkins) and his fiancée Candace (Regina Hall) have planned a dream wedding in Las Vegas. They’ve brought along all their friends to celebrate.

      Sounds simple, right? But this is Hollywood’s riff on Vegas, baby. So, for reasons that only jaded screenwriters can understand, it’s determined that each of the couples must split into two distinct groups. The men—who celebrate their bachelor party with strippers, gambling, and booze. And the women—who celebrate their bachelorette party with strippers, booze, and pink balloons.

      There are the usual complications that never seem to happen in real life. Much to the surprise of the clueless best man, the cavernous pad he’s rented as party central turns out to be $40,000 a night. Michael’s meddling mother (Jenifer Lewis) is along for the ride. She wants to see Dionne Warwick. And the rest of the bridal party want to do shots until they drop. Enter Candace’s Uncle Eddie (Dennis Haysbert), a smooth-talking ladies man who makes it his mission to distract Michael’s mom.

      The bottom line? There are lots of urgent problems that are magically solved after virtually everybody spends the night in jail. (Didn’t see that one coming, did you?) The cast—composed largely of seasoned TV veterans—is attractive and competent. But you know you’re in trouble when the biggest surprise in the entire movie is a cameo appearance by Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer.

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