Directed by Todd Phillips.
2013. Rated R, 100 minutes.
Cast:
There is a scene in The Hangover Part
III in which a bunch of characters wake up from a night of
debauchery in a strange place, wondering what they did and how they got there.
Sadly, this happens at the end. Before this, you may spend a lot of time
thinking you’re watching the wrong movie.
Let me explain.
Right away we know things are going to be different this
time around. Instead of starting with a scene such as the one described above,
the way the first two installments did, we kick things off with a prison break.
It’s Mr. Chow (Jeong) escaping from a Bangkok jail. We quickly transition back
to the USA where Alan (Galifianakis) is spiraling completely out of control due
to the sudden death of his father. After some convincing, he agrees to enter a
treatment facility, provided he is driven there by his buddies in the Wolfpack.
Together, they hit the road, but they never make it. They get run off the road
by Marshall (Goodman) and his goons, including Black Doug (Epps) from the first
movie. Marshall informs them of Chow’s escape and that Chow stole $21 million
is gold from him. He then kidnaps their Doug (Bartha) and demands the rest of
them find and bring Chow to him. The boys trying to do precisely that ensues.
Rather than another joke-a-minute recap of the night before
we get a clunky hybrid crime thriller and dark comedy. Our heroes feel like
they are way out of their element. In fact, Phil (Cooper) and Stu (Helms) take
a back seat most of the time to whatever is going on with Chow and Alan. Almost
none of this is funny. The biggest reason is that these two characters are the
least able to support a movie. Truthfully, none of them are which is, in part,
what makes the first two movies work. They are a true ensemble effort where
each contributes equally to the overall cause. Here, two of them are forced
into the lead and wind up exposing their own flatness. This is especially
problematic with regards to Chow. We have always been told he is an internationally
wanted criminal. This is one of those rare cases where showing instead of
telling backfires. When we were only told of his nefarious life, it works okay.
When we’re shown this, it fails to hold water. Everything about him is simply
too ridiculous.
As a whole, The Hangover Part III feels
like an overreaction to criticism of Part II. Conventional wisdom says that its
predecessor was too similar to the original. Truth told, it is a carbon copy. As
blatant duplications go, however, it’s still a winner in my book. I didn’t
laugh quite as often as I did the first time around, but I still laughed an
awful lot. At the end of the day, that’s all I really want from my comedies.
Sitting through the third installment yielded very few chuckles. I fully
understand that comedy is highly subjective. What is funny to me might be
deplorable to you, and vice-versa. Therefore, had the humor simply been of a
different brand I would better understand the effort. It feels like this movie
didn’t really try. It’s as if the powers that be thought that these characters
were so great that they could effectively carry any story and stepping away
from the franchise’s bread and butter wouldn’t be much of an issue. Turns out
they can’t carry any old plot, particularly this one. Fish out of water tales
can be wonderful. They usually focus on one fish trying to gain his/her footing
in a new environment. In this case, all of the fish are out of water and we
just watch them flop around for an hour and a half.
MY SCORE: 3/10
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I'm all for a trilogy changing itself up for a new, creative direction, but this decision here was just very ill-advised and goes to show you that it's good thing this franchise is all over. Good review Dell.
ReplyDeleteYup, this was extremely ill-advised and I am glad it's over. After the second one I was looking forward to this installment. After seeing it, thank goodness there won't be more. Thanks.
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