We Saw: The Hangover Part III (2013)

Director: Todd Philips

Writers: Todd Phillips, Craig Mazin, Jon Lucas (characters), Scott Moore (characters)

Genre: Comedy

Plot: When one of their own is kidnapped by an angry gangster, the Wolf Pack must track down Mr. Chow, who has escaped from prison and is on the lam.

Cast: Bradley Cooper as Phil

Ed Helms as Stu

Zach Galifianakis as Alan

Ken Jeong as Mr. Chow

Review (this review contains minor spoilers):

The first Hangover movie, released in 2009, was a breath of fresh air in the comedy genre. It was clever, funny and original, and people really seemed to enjoy it. Since the first one was such a big success, it was obvious that it would spawn some sequels. So, The Hangover Part II was released. The second Hangover movie was almost identical to its predecessor – it had the same formula, same setup, the same narrative structure, the same plot points; even though it was considerably less funny, it was also still an OK movie. The third movie completely disregards the famous franchises’ formula and goes in a different direction.

Wouldn’t be a Hangover movie without a scene in an elevator.

This time there is no wedding, no a bachelor party, no party, nor do the members of the Wolf Pack get drunk/high. This time the plot is very straightforward – Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) have to find Chow (Ken Jeong). Apparently, Chow stole 40 million dollars worth of gold plates from some mafia guy named Marshall (John Goodman), and so in return Marshall kidnapped Doug (Justin Bartha) and blackmailed Phil, Stu and Alan to find and bring him Chow, or else he will kill Doug.

The always adorable Melissa McCarthy is in this movie.

Basically, this movie lacked the elements that made the first Hangover so good. Of course, the classic Hangover formula needed some experimenting but if you completely abandon the ideas that made the first movie feel so fresh and original, there is a decent chance you’ll just end up stuck with an unoriginal, bland movie. Which is exactly what happened to The Hangover Part III. In a nutshell, Hangover Part III pretty much fails as a sequel to The Hangover.  But hey, that doesn’t mean that Hangover Part III fails as a movie, does it? Well, sort of. First of all, Hangover Part III is – once again unlike the first two movies – a much more action/thrill-packed movie. By no means would I call it an action movie, but it definitely shows overtones of one. I didn’t really like these kind of scenes since they didn’t seem vital to the plot and they were far from spectacular. Second of all, Hangover Part III isn’t that funny: I chuckled here and there but the jokes were far from the first Hangover. So I’m not quite sure whether I would give this movie a passing grade. It wasn’t terrible but I feel I could have spent 100 minutes of my time doing something better – like watching some other movie.

Abbey Road – Hangover style.

But what do I know? The audience, whom I watched the movie with, really seemed to enjoy it as they were laughing quite often. However, in the credits there is a scene that shows the Wolf Pack waking up from what is implied to be yet another bachelor party. Of course, the setup is classic – they don’t know what happened the night before and are shocked by the mayhem that is surrounding them. This scene was very short and the audience laughed more during those few minutes than throughout the whole movie. Their reactions portrayed my emotions towards this movie very accurately.

Rating:

 

Dorian