The Hangover Part III (2013) Reviews

• Hangover III wraps things up quite nicely

  burlesonjesse52014-05-11

  Well I guess it's official, I'm eating my words as we speak. Yeah, I'm the guy who doesn't like sequels and yet here I am giving positive ratings to Star Trek Into Darkness and now The Hangover Part III. It's scary to think of what I might do next. If the new Fast and the Furious movie impresses me, I guess I'll just skip reviewing it and go straight into denial. But seriously folks, I went into the new Hangover with really low expectations. We're talking bottom feeder if you know what I mean. So from now on I think that's the key. I'm going to take this approach with every film I see. That way I'll stroll out of the theater as a movie critic that raves about everything and comes off as not so darn grumpy. Whoa, forget what I just said. I was merely kidding people! Anyway, here's what occurs in part III. At the very beginning, we find mentally unstable "wolfpack" member Alan (Zach Galifianakis getting the most exposure he's had in any of the Hangover films) buying a giraffe, putting it in the back of his truck, and killing it on the freeway (I'm thinking you know how it happened). Upon doing this, he irritates his family and draws concern from the other "wolfpack" members (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha). Everyone but Alan, stages an intervention on his behalf to get him to a treatment center somewhere in Arizona. He'll agree to go if his three buds will drive him there. As the four of them set out on a moderately short road trip, their car is rammed off the road, they are dragged out of it (held at gunpoint mind you), and one of the crew (Bartha of course) is taken hostage. This sets off a chain of events which leads everybody to venture back to good old Sin City. Well let's get down to it. Right off the bat I want to let you know why I liked The Hangover Part III. I enjoyed it for the exact reason that some critics panned it. This flick doesn't try to be like the other two in the trilogy. In fact, it feels like a totally different animal all together. Yes there is a dash of the funny (something part I did effortlessly and part II attempted miserably), but there's also a hint of darkness that comes close to turning everything into a sort of black comedy with shards of mild violence. For me, this is an effective way to wrap things up (unless there is a part IV of course). You can tell that the director (Todd Phillips) wanted to avoid copping out and injected part III with a little more juice (this is the other reason I liked it and most critics didn't. They think Phillips went way over the top or felt he had to prove something). He did the film justice by avoiding the same tired plot line (everyone gets smashed and wakes up not knowing what the heck just happened) while making an effort to tie together loose ends from the other two movies (by way of flashbacks). This is done to effect in the first 15 minutes and it sets everything in motion. The actors then promptly assume their personalities from the first two installments. Doug Billings who's never around for the debauchery, plays the happily married nice guy. Alan, plays the screw loose, borderline mental patient who nonchalantly goes about his business. Phil, is the smug, unhappily married school teacher who is calm under pressure, and Stu is the manic anxiety ridden dentist who thinks all hope is gone. Together they fit their roles like comfortable old shoes. Overall their performances are manically unhinged. You get what's required of them coupled with a fresher more potently nasty script this time around (part II's had lazy written all over it). As far as supporting work goes, I thought John Goodman (gangster Marshall) was a nice little addition to the Hangover family (he riffs off his Big Lebowski character but just not quite as intense). I also like the addition of a love interest for Alan (someone besides man crush Phil) in Melissa McCarthy. She seems to make a cameo in everything these days and certainly is a hoot as a pawn shop owner who candidly berates her wheelchair confined mother. The only setback for this Hangover is the blatant deviation from the focus of the four stars of the movie (the infamous "wolfpack"). This exercise is bent on giving two supporting characters their own vehicle (Ken Jeong as Mr. Chow and Galifianakis). True these guys are funny and steal many a scene, but the other members of the cast don't get a lot of room to breathe. They get kind of pushed to the side and become sort of frowned upon (Bradley Cooper recently got nominated for an Oscar, give him some props for gosh sakes). And what's with always having Justin Bartha's character not present with the other members of the "pack" when the madness of their misadventures is going down. It seems predetermined and silly. What, is he not good enough an actor to occupy some precious screen time with his buddies (Bartha was in the colossal flop Gigli (2003) so maybe that's it, who knows). When it all comes down to it, I found myself at ease with the way part III whisked by. It's darker than the first one, funnier than the second one, and more daring than both of them. I laughed, I winced, and felt confident in recommending this hot mess of a movie. It's a sequel all right, but it tries really hard not to be one. I admire that. With nothing to lose, you should go check out The Hangover part III. It's a solid time killer and a required "hair of the dog" if you will.

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• Almost completely humourless.

  Troy_Campbell2013-05-24

  I'm not going to sugar coat it: this movie stinks. After the gut-busting hilarity of the 2009 original, this comedy franchise has been struck down with a severe case of sequel-itis. The carbon-copy second instalment was stale for the most part yet still managed a handful of laughs thanks to the general funniness of Zach Galifianakis' socially demented Alan; this episode however, is almost completely devoid of humour. The writing has become increasingly reliant on the natural charisma of the headlining star trio - with the plot here being laborious and woefully lazy - and the irritating Chow (Ken Jeong), the weakest link in part one, inexplicably gets even more screen time to screech and make our eardrums bleed. If it weren't for an amusing set piece atop Las Vegas' Caesar Palace hotel and a best-for-last gag during the end credits, I would've given this the one star treatment. I was desperately hoping this series would regain some form and finish with a bang, but unfortunately the wolf-pack's last adventure barely makes a whimper.

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• The Hangover becomes Mission Impossible

  ThePhantomMovieBuff2013-09-06

  Not so long ago in the year 2009, The Hangover exploded onto the scene and was praised as one of the funniest films of the decade, with its witty cast and the hilarious "re-tracing our footsteps to find out what we did" routine running as the main plot. The Hangover Part II simply changed nothing at all, and offered nothing new with the attitude of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." What will please fan's the most with The Hangover Part III, is that is does not follow the same formula that the first two did. However, a lot of fan's will be headed into disappointment when they realize that this third instalment decides to take a completely different change in direction than that of its predecessors. And by completely, I mean very much drastically. The story follows the Wolf Pack yet again as they try to help Alan (Zach Galifianakis) get back on track due to him being off his meds, and soon enough they get thrown into a Mission Impossible-esque mission to save their friend Doug (Justin Bartha, who yet again takes a miss on all the excitement) from Marshall (John Goodman), an angry gangster who wants' the Wolf Pack to find Chow (Ken Jeong, who has a much larger screen time in this instalment) and return to him to them with 21 million dollars in gold bricks that he stole. If not, Doug gets the offing. A major plot point is the development of Alan. His friends Phil and Stu (Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms) are mature and grown men who have happily settled down, but he is still very much stuck as a spoilt rotten teenager within a man's body, and his life is going nowhere. Throughout the adventure, it really is a tale about Alan and watching him grow into the man he should have become years ago. Fans of The Hangover owe it to themselves to watch it, whatever their final opinion of it may be. Whereas The Hangover Part III doesn't match the quality of its first part, it definitely doesn't deserve all the negativity it has been getting. The film does a good job of balancing the well known Hangover humour with the Mission Impossible-esque set pieces, and all the recurring stars do well reprising their roles. One of the biggest changes that The Hangover Part III entails is that there is no actual drinking/hangover sequence. There's also no wedding or no missing person (or a pot smoking monkey). Instead, it plays it much straighter and it knows what it wants to set out to do, which is to stray far away from the formula of the first two chapters. And by doing so, it makes the finale to The Hangover Trilogy one to remember. My Verdict: The Hangover Part III is a fitting end to the trilogy, but despite its changes in directions fans will be divided, resulting in a love or hate for this final chapter.

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• What's all the fuss about?!?!?!?!

  Jaylonpahsetopah22014-05-15

  Really?? Terrible?!?!?! it was amazing! If it was even about a Hangover, then you guys would be mad saying "It's exactly like the first" that's what the whine on number 2 was about! It has a great plot, a great story, great actors HILARIOUS ENDING AFTER THE CREDITS! And a great ending to the wolf pack journey. It doesn't has a lot of sexual material, so it goes where the average R rated hit movie dares to go, with hilarious material without being fully sexual. And it has a lot of fresh new jokes that wasn't from the first (unlike number 2) It's like 21 jump street! Just don't listen to what we think, watch it for yourself! Then, you can fuss about it OR enjoy it, completely your mind ;)

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• Lazy, cynical, and mean-spirited - the end could've come sooner

  StevePulaski2013-05-26

  I watched Todd Phillips' original Hangover film in theaters under normal, unassuming circumstances and walked out believing I had just witnessed a comedic masterpiece. It had the luxury of appearing just funny enough from the trailers and the fact that it was released during the time where the Apatow-esque comedies began to take way after something of a comedy recession. I loved it and believed it was one of the strongest comedies of the last decade. Its sequel, released in 2011, was, to say the least, a colossal disappointment. It featured mostly the same premise, with slight location and plot changes, and wasn't assisted by creativity and curiosity in terms of where the plot was going to go, unlike its predecessor. And now the inevitable Hangover: Part III is out, which is unworthy of bearing the franchise's name and certainly isn't good enough for the Roman Numerals in its title. This time the film doesn't amplify something that was done previously only significantly better, but instead makes this a cynical, mean-spirited follow-up featuring characters we grew to like in the original but now sort-of can't wait to see gone. The posters for the film boldly claim "The End" and my only response is "You're Late." The film reunites Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis), the notorious "Wolfpack" who decides that after Alan's recent stint with a giraffe on a freeway that he needs to be taken to rehab and put back on medication. The four decide to travel to Arizona together, when they are run off the road by Marshall (John Goodman, in perhaps the strongest performance of the entire franchise), a gangster who has been robbed off $21 million worth of gold from Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong). Being that the Wolfpack were close with Chow, Marshall kidnaps Doug and demands that Chow and his gold be returned to him. Cue the barrage of silliness and misunderstandings now. The main difference between the two previous Hangover films and this third installment is that this one takes an approach more in line with an action film than a comedy. I see something more reminiscent to a Bad Boys III rather than the final installment to a long-running comedy trilogy. Actions scenes evoke the quickest and most irrevocable kind of monotony and with a series that is already beginning to feel like it has been carried out way past its prime, this only cements it. And if that doesn't turn you off, the belittling mental illness subplot and the animal cruelty will likely do the trick. With Alan being off his medication, the character is given the most screen time in the film. Not to mention, Chow is given much more as well, and if we learn anything, it's that these two characters were better in small doses. Alan's dim-witted comedy and Chow's drug-related witticisms were at one time fun and fresh, but now, stale and flavorless. Furthermore, this is by far one of the most aggressive Hangover pictures in terms of what it portrays as comedy. It must be something of record that a one-hundred minute mainstream movies features the decapitation of a giraffe, the smothering of a rooster, and the poisoning of two dogs in an attempt to create humor. It's a sick, deplorable tactic that Phillips, who has shown his talent for giving characters something fun to talk about, uses in order to drum up either controversy or laughs or both. Had the original Hangover stood on its own, not possessing sequels of lesser quality leaching off its name, it could've very well become a classic in the next several years. Not only that, it could've been seen as a studio marvel, one that didn't need to "push the envelope" with sequels and redundant attempts to break taboos. Alas, it is too late and it's a shame the untold millions the previous sequel grossed and the final installment will inevitably gross are put to two lesser films. I end with the the encompassing hope that the taglines for this film prove prophetic. Staring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zack Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, John Goodman, and Mike Epps. Directed by: Todd Phillips.

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