Review: The Hangover Part III

The Hangover Part III
Cert: 15 / 102 mins / Dir. Todd Phillips



Let me state for the record, I enjoyed this movie. There, I said it. There seems to be less direction than the previous Hangover movies (meaning the patchy story, not Phillips' directing), and it feels more than ever like a series of sketches and set-pieces strung together by three men bickering in a car. But let's not piss about; that's what this series is. The plot takes a turn away from the manhunt/memory-loss groove, but doesn't get too far away from that. Secondary characters from the first two episodes seem to have been shoehorned in out of contractual obligation, and this time round it's really just 'the Zach Galifianakis & Ken Jeong show'. Then again, I think this character is ZG's best work*¹, and I love Ken Jeong in pretty much everything anyway, so y'know. Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper are there, and are good, but it's just not really their movie. John Goodman appears as his John Goodman character, which he's getting quite good at doing, and Melissa McCarthy appears as her Melissa McCarthy character (although thankfully she doesn't have enough screen-time to start ad-libbing*²).

So, we roll along, from abduction-sketch to burglary-sketch to parachuting-sketch, and slowly but surely the story just sort of… peters out. There's an ending, but it just feels like it's there because there were no more ideas left in the notepad. It's not a 'long' film anyway, but it still starts to drag its heels as we realise there isn't really a final bang to go out on; which is a damn shame given how much I did chortle throughout it. It's the sort of thing which will seem a lot better with beer and friends, so it's probably more suited to DVD. I'm aware that I'm not really selling the film to you, but then neither have Warner Bros. They're banking on you wanting to see it because of what's gone before, not what they have for you this time.

I wasn't disappointed by it because it's pretty much what I was expecting: One for the fans. Bottom line? It's better than 21 & Over. And to me, that means a lot.

As a franchise, The Hangover needed this movie. Although I'm not entirely sure its audience did.

Yeah.



Yeah.



More than likely.



DVD'll do, unless you're eager to see it.



No.



Yeah.



No. I thought I heard one at one point, but it was just Alan getting the crap kicked out of him.

The Hangover has exhausted its own well. Not only has it run itself dry, but it's pretty much also put paid to its competitors, too.
What's next?

*¹ Because let's face it, all of Zach's other roles are essentially watered-down versions of Alan From The Hangover. At least in these movies he can go for it, full steam ahead.
*² Or to become deeply irritating. Which is the same thing, in her case

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