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Review: The Hangover Part III

By Christine Petralia

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

May 26, 2013


Part three of The Hangover franchise took on a whole concept and I don’t believe it worked. The formula of waking up and trying to piece together what happened the night before worked in parts one and two, but in three, it was just a straight up dark comedy. I found I was forcing myself to laugh at times, which was disappointing. I think if this was just a straight up film and not part of a series, I might have enjoyed it better. I think I did that thing when I expect something to be really good and it’s just not.



The film starts with Chow (Ken Jeong) breaking out of prison on Bangkok and jumps to Alan (Zach Galifianakis) still living as a man-boy. His father gives him a talking to, and then has a heart attack. It’s after his father’s funeral that his friends and family decide it’s time for an intervention. The guys, Stu (Ed Helms), Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Doug (Justin Bartha), tell Alan they will take him to rehab in Arizona so that he will actually go.



On the way there, the Wolfpack is kidnapped by Marshall (John Goodman), a man with a grudge against Chow. He takes Doug for insurance and tells the other guys that unless they deliver Chow to him, Doug will die.

 

Soon the trio heads to Mexico, where Chow tells Alan to meet him. At first the plan is to drug Chow and just take him to Marshall, but Chow is too smart for them and they reveal everything. Chow convinces the guys to rob a home of gold in order to repay Marshall, but he leaves them locked in the basement. Next, the guys find themselves in Vegas, visiting with stripper Jade (Heather Graham), from the first film, to get info on Chow’s whereabouts.



A few people die, Phil and Alan hang from Caesars Palace, Chow goes parachuting from Caesars above Vegas and Alan gets married. And that’s the gist of The Hangover Part III. As I said, it was disappointing because I expected a LOT. I know some people didn’t care for the second film because it mirrored the first, but I think the appeal of those films was the format. I feel the third film didn’t work because it didn’t have that formula. I also feel that Cooper and Helms were just going through the motions, instead of really getting into the film, as they did in the first and second. But, I guess because it was a different type of film they had to act differently, and maybe that’s why I feel they were forcing it. I think the best part of the film was Melissa McCarthy as Cassie, the pawn shop owner who eventually marries Alan. But I expect nothing less from her, as she is funny in everything she does.



I’m sure some people will enjoy it, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

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All works created by Christine McGrath; Centereach, New York  All Rights Reserved 2024

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