The Hangover Part III

The Hangover Part III - 3 out of 5  

The Hangover was just absolutely brilliant. A fantastic comedy filled with memorable scenes and quotes that frat boys all over the world are still quoting before high-fiving and saying or doing something incredibly homoerotic in the name of fraternity brotherly love. Were they pushing the envelope by making a sequel to a film that, realistically, didn’t need one? Absolutely but I felt Part II had enough humorous moments that it didn’t feel like a complete waste of my time. However, despite being excited at the concept of a third film (yeah, the trailer sold me), I can’t help but feel that this one, billed as the final in the trilogy, may have proved they milked this series for all it was worth.



Jumping the...giraffe?

Okay, so Alan (Zach Galifianakis) is off his meds and out of control. After the death of his father Sid (Jeffrey Tambor), Alan’s brother-in-law Doug (Justin Bartha) decides it’s time for an intervention. So, he calls in the rest of The Wolfpack; Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms), and Alan eventually agrees to go to a rehab facility for help. However, along the way, they encounter an angry crime lord (John Goodman) who claims that The Wolfpack’s old friend Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) stole millions of dollars worth of gold bars from him and, unless they can reclaim the fortune from the cocaine addicted, extremely violent Chow, he’s going to kill their friend Doug—and once again negating the character from the outrageous adventure.



SPOILER ALERT!  The movie ends with Chow dying a horrible death...
just kidding...that would have been great though.

The first film rode the line perfectly as it was dark but hysterical without it really becoming a dark comedy. The Wolfpack’s journey to figure out what exactly fucking happened to them the night before and where the hell Doug disappeared to was filled with violence, hookers, drugs and more violence…but, all the while, being hysterical. It was the perfect formula of wackiness, vulgarity and an underlining brilliance. The sequel wasn’t up to par as it basically told the same story all over again but in Bangkok. However, the presence of Paul Giamatti and a few decent humorous moments littered here and there made the film bearable to me and not a total wash.



Good news is, though, the casino became pager friendly since the first one.

Basically, this final film proved to be the same as the second in that respect.



Sweaty and harassing a pharmacist...somehow this movie captured my Tuesday nights perfectly.

While I commend the director/writer Todd Phillips for not rehashing the “we woke up hungover after being drugged and now must figure out what we did the previous night on our bender” and decided for a crime caper as The Wolfpack much capture Mr. Chow, the drastic change in tone and story hurt the film really bad as the movie went darker than the previous films without enough comedy to back it up. In fact, with a few creative edits, you could easily turn the film into a serious crime drama.



Maybe have a few re-dubs of Cooper saying, "I just want my kids back" and
you have yourself a crime thriller.

While the change in story and tone is simultaneous refreshing and jarring for the final foray in the franchise, the main cast still does a great job with their characters. The only sad part about this is the fact the film is all about Alan and Stu and Phil (and, again, Doug) are pushed in the background and not allowed to bring much humor to the film. While Alan stole the first film and has been funny in all of them, adding too much of the character hurt most of the humor for me. It got to the point where the Alan-esque jokes being thrown at you started to feel repetitive (only with different ingredients added). It would have been nice to see Phil and Stu have a larger presence in the story and comedy and not be just backup singers to Alan’s lead.


Shirtless Galifianaksi, business as usual.  Add a can of Tab, comedy gold!

Also, how come we’ve had three movies and they never once allowed Doug to be apart of the adventure? Seriously, I want to see Justin Bartha get into some crazy shit with the rest of The Wolfpack. But don’t take that desire as a reason to do a fourth movie.



Seriously, I feel robbed that Doug not being involved was a running gag in this
trilogy.



Oliver Cooper played a douche bag in Project X and now
he's playing a pharmacist in this one...somehow
I feel he hasn't fallen low enough; he deserves worst.

That isn’t to say the movie is nothing but detractors. It has a lot going for it. Yes, it’s nowhere near as funny as the first one and all the Alan-based jokes start to become grating but the movie is still very humorous—sadly, the humorous parts just have very long spaces in-between them. However, one of the biggest compliments I can pay this film was the decision to include John Goodman and Melissa McCarthy in it. First off, I adore McCarthy! I think she is adorable and hilarious in almost everything she does. Sure, she sometimes has her bad movies but even in a bad movie she still is able to make a few amusing moments and, furthermore, who can forget her show stealing performance in Bridesmaids?

Rex Reed probably wrote a bad review of this movie and complained about McCarthy's
part without actually finishing the movie.

And then there’s John Goodman…

Here’s a fact: John Goodman has the powers of a god and he is only on loan from an alternate dimension. Goodman uses his powers solely for the purpose of being a great fucking actor and instantly improves any film he is in by 78% percent. Just having Goodman in The Hangover Part III made the film better thanks to his aura of awesome…that being said, this movie needed MORE Goodman (because unlike other good things, you just can’t get enough Goodman). While the scenes he is in are fantastic and really show us just how amazing he is as an actor, I really wanted to see more of him. If only Phillips cut out a few of Alan’s scenes and substituted them with more Goodman…


Seriously, no mortal being can be this talented...

Overall, I found The Hangover Part III to be mediocre. The film is nowhere near as funny as the first film (or even the second) and it just left me with an overwhelming sense of “meh.” While not a terrible film to end the franchise on (seriously, please don’t make another—there literally is no reason to) the fact is it could have been better. But, the movie has its funny moments and they were enough to keep the film from being a waste of time for me.

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Jumat, 04 Oktober 2013

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Published: 2013-10-04T17:00:00-07:00
Title:The Hangover Part III
Rating: 5 On 22 reviews

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