Rated
R (Pervasive Language including Sexual References, Some Violence and Drug Content,
and Brief Graphic Nudity)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 40 Minutes
Cast-
Bradley
Cooper-Phil Wenneck
Ed
Helms-Stu Price
Zach
Galifianakis-Alan Garner
Justin
Bartha-Doug Billings
John
Goodman-Marshall
Ken
Jeong-Leslie Chow
Melissa
McCarthy-Cassie
Heather
Graham-Jade
Sasha
Barrese-Tracy Garner
Jamie
Chung-Lauren Price
Gillian
Vigman-Stephanie Wenneck
Jeffrey
Tambor-Sid Garner
Mike
Epps-Black Doug
Directed
by Todd Phillips
 |
| The Wolf Pack are forced to work with gangster Leslie Chow if they are to save Doug in "The Hangover Part III." |
Note: Screened on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at Regal Union Square Stadium 14.
Hollywood
has always been about chasing the almighty dollar. When director Todd Phillips'
R-rated comedy "The Hangover" arrived in theaters back in summer 2009,
Warner Brothers was so confident that
the film would be a hit at the box office that they green-lit a sequel two months before its release. Although
the studio's prediction proved to be correct, the film's final worldwide tally
of $467.5 million (that's thirteen times its production budget) still came as a
total surprise. Audiences as well as critics fell in love with Phillips' film (79%
on Rotten Tomatoes) so naturally, a sequel was made in the hopes that lightening
would strike twice. Due to the goodwill generated by its predecessor, 2011's
"The Hangover Part II" debuted to a massive $135 million over Memorial
Day weekend…but there was one problem: the film was terrible. Of course, it
still made giant piles of money ($586.8 million worldwide) yet all Phillips did
was just copy-and-paste the story from the original while only changing the
setting from Las Vegas to Bangkok. Making matters worse, he replaced the comedy
with shock value antics that were often mean-spirited, vile, and offensive. Despite
its negative reception (34% on Rotten Tomatoes), Warner Brothers moved ahead
with a second follow-up. Given how bad "Part II" was, there's nowhere
to go but up for "The Hangover Part III" and while it is an improvement
thanks to its bittersweet tone, there's far too little laughs here for this
third (and supposedly final) installment to qualify as a comedy.
Now
off his meds and left to wallow in his own stupidity, forty-two-year-old man-child
Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis) causes a colossal traffic accident on the freeway
after he accidentally decapitates a giraffe. This incident proves to be too
much for his exasperated father Sid (Jeffrey Tambor) and he soon passes away
from a heart attack. After the funeral, Alan's brother-in-law Doug Billings (Justin
Bartha) decides to set up an intervention and invites the rest of the 'Wolf Pack,'
schoolteacher Phil Wenneck (Bradley Cooper) and dentist Stu Price (Ed Helms),
to lend moral support. Although Alan is initially resistant to the idea of going
to rehab, the three friends manage to convince him that he needs help. Riding
with the Wolf Pack one final time, Phil and his pals drive Alan to the rehab
center in Arizona but they are ambushed along the way by ruthless drug kingpin
Marshall (John Goodman) and his enforcer, Black Doug (Mike Epps). Marshall informs
them that four years ago, gangster Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) stole $21 million in
gold bars from him. Now he wants it all back and since Alan has been in constant
contact with Chow, Marshall demands the Wolf Pack to locate him and the gold or Doug will be killed.
Finding themselves caught in an outrageous situation once again, Phil, Stu, and
Alan set out to capture Chow and return to the city where it all began…Las Vegas.
Aware
of the complaints that "Part II" was nothing more than a lazy carbon-copy
of the original, Todd Phillips makes a radical departure from the formula established
in the first two entries with "The Hangover Part III." There may not be
a wedding or missing night but the characters are still forced to deal with the
consequences of their actions, only now they're all sober. Once again written by
Phillips and Craig Mazin (whose credits include "Superhero Movie" and
February's horrid "Identity Thief"), the film starts off on a promising
note, opening with a chaotic prison riot set in Bangkok where flamboyant gangster
Leslie Chow makes his escape, Shawshank-style! The scene then segues to an
excited Alan Garner driving along the freeway with a giraffe in tow but his happiness
is short-lived when the animal is decapitated under a low bridge, resulting in a
major traffic incident that leaves his father furious. It's as shocking as it
is hilarious (made funnier due to how oblivious Alan looks), with Phillips straddling
the line between bleak and humorous when he subsequently kills off Alan's dad
while his son sits in smug silence, listening to Billy Joel's My Life on his headphones. A number of
off-putting comic moments follow such as Alan beautifully singing Ave Maria but the laughs unfortunately begin
to peter out once the Wolf Pack hits the road. With "Part II" and now
"Part III," Phillips continues to completely misunderstand why the
first film worked so well. It was never the formula, or Alan, or even Chow; it
was the easy camaraderie between the three central characters. By focusing so
much on Alan and Chow, Phil and Stu are reduced to being tagalongs with little
to do.
Given
his over-the-top nature, Chow is a character that's best utilized in small doses.
His expanded role here quickly gets on your nerves. In fact, the whole Tijuana
segment where he tries to retrieve his gold with the help of the Wolf Pack grinds
the film to a halt due to how dull and unfunny it is. A return to Las Vegas
restores some of the manic energy and luster from the original, complete with a
nail-biting scene where Phil and Alan try to infiltrate Chow's penthouse suite
in Caesars Palace. The story makes every effort to provide a sense of closure and
packs in a number of nostalgic callbacks to the previous entries (including an appearance
from a four-year-old 'Carlos') but it is surprisingly the character moments that
save "Part III" from being a total disaster. Phillips manages to create
a sense of genuine poignancy with Alan's maturation and even throws in a romantic
interest in the form of Cassie, played by Melissa McCarthy. The last twenty
minutes certainly goes big as a coked-up, parachuting Chow leads Stu on a merry
chase through Vegas, which has never looked so colorful thanks to Lawrence Sher's
excellent cinematography. Although "The Hangover Part III" never quite
recaptures the magic of the original, its final scenes prove to be a fitting
conclusion to a series that sadly became a victim of its own success.
The
entire primary cast return to reprise their roles for one last time but a sense
of weariness pervades some of their performances. Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms appear
stranded in the film, with the former looking completely disinterested as he goes
through the motions. Zach Galifianakis' Alan continues to be the series' highlight
with his simpleton behavior and random non-sequiturs yet there's a noticeable lack
of quotable dialogue from the character, a sign of how dried up the creative
well has become. Ken Jeong plays the same outlandish Chinese/homosexual
stereotype from the previous entries but the actor ratchets up the crazy to
eleven. Justin Bartha is once again pushed to the sidelines while John Goodman's
Marshall is simply wasted. Mike Epps and Heather Graham pop up briefly, with Graham
reduced to serving up exposition. Melissa McCarthy is the only cast member to
leave an impression despite having no more than ten minutes of screen-time.
"The
Hangover Part III" was released on May 23, 2013 to overwhelmingly negative
reviews with 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. Although critics admired it for diverging 'from
the series' rote formula, [it] offers nothing compelling in its place.' Despite
opening a day ahead of "Fast and Furious 6," the film has failed to
drum up much excitement and will finish with $54 million over Memorial Day weekend,
a far cry from the $135 million tally of "Part II." The tepid
response from audiences was in stark contrast to the enthusiasm shown from
Tuesday's advance screening. "The Hangover Part III" offers a few
scattered laughs but is ultimately not a return to form for the series. The
problem with this franchise is that it was borne out of studio mandate and that
proved to be its undoing. It just goes to show that no matter how hard you try,
you can't make lightening strike multiple times.
Final
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
"Did
you know your name used to be Carlos? I think it suits you better."
Make sure to stay during the end credits for a hilarious scene, by far the funniest moment in the entire film!
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