The Hangover Part III
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Zack Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, John Goodman
Directed By: Todd Phillips
Reviewed by Danielle Muir
[rating: 3/5]
It all ends. (I certainly hope so.)
The Hangover franchise is tumultuous in its quality. With a smash hit first instalment, back for lousy seconds in number two and now a perfectly adequate third, I think it’s safe to say it is time for the wolf pack to hang up their…paws.
The Hangover Part III is neither overly disgusting, nor action packed (exceptions are the opening mutiny in a Bangkok prison and Alan finding himself wedged in the Caesars Palace signage), nor out of this world ridiculous. When you look at it in terms of number two (which was every kind of wrong), you thank the gods they went for laughs rather than grimaces. However, this film is a case of the sum of funny parts failing to nail a coherent whole.
Maybe I’m just a stickler for a solid plot, but there are just too many scenes in Part III that simply exist for a half-funny joke to be performed, and then on to the next. There is an underlying story, so props for that I suppose, but it’s still pretty weak. The wolf pack is off taking Alan to a mental health facility (finally!) but on their way they’re kidnapped by a metrosexual Marshall (Goodman). His demands? Find Mr. Chow (Jeong) – on the run after busting out of his Bangkok prison cell – and recover the gold bars he stole from Marshall before he got thrown in the big house.
There are certainly some laughs to be had (more so from the stupidity than actual hilarity), and the all the characters you know and love are back at their best. Todd Phillips has decided to make this one almost completely Alan-centric as he is the biggest drawcard of the franchise, so there is a lot of Galifianakis making funny faces, which for some will be enough to satisfy their funny bones.
The performances are what you’d expect – Goodman is cool, Cooper seems to just be there to drive the car, be the brawn and say ‘what the fuck’ in various entertaining ways, Galifianakis is Galifianakis, Helms is the annoying nerd and Bartha disappears again, being held at ransom. Oh and Jeong is again one playing one of the most despicable characters on screen. Everything and everyone just seem to be coasting at averagely funny level – and it’s pretty entertaining but nothing out of this world. But, certainly better than the second.
What I will say is wait for the credits! The credits scene was by far the funniest part of the whole shebang. Just slap The Hangover Part III title over the scene and call it a day.
