The Hangover Part 3

The finale to the most improbable comedy trilogy has arrived. Who would have thought a movie about three dudes who black out in Vegas and have to piece together their night would end up as three movies? Not I, that is for sure. Put me in the camp of people who loved the second movie specifically because it was essentially a retread of the first one. Why wouldn't I want to continue watching these seemingly normal people go through ridiculous stuff? They were hilarious, oddly dark and philosophical about human nature and featured such unbelievable nonsense that I could not help but laugh. I happen to love the shockingly perfect chemistry of the devastatingly handsome Bradley Cooper, the bizarrely sublime Zach Galifinakis, and the hyper preppy attitude of Ed Helms. It just works for me. Well, it worked for me. For two full movies I laughed hard enough to annoy audiences full of people. I saw the Hangover four times in theaters, and because I was working at a theater when it came out, I watched the photos during the end credits over a dozen times. I thought it was wildly inventive and I loved that The Hangover could play as a straight mystery flick if it had a different tone. I was incredibly excited at the prospect of a third one because I imagined them going back to Vegas and having just the craziest, wildest shenanigans. At one point, I thought maybe the film would end with them literally blowing up Las Vegas for ruining their lives, especially Stu's. Alas, it was not to be. The Hangover 3, unfortunately plays like a Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) spin off, much to the detriment of the film.

Alan (Galifinakis) has completely lose his mind. He bought a giraffe and got it killed in a horrifically graphic accident (don't worry, the giraffe is clearly CGI and it was a poorly done shading job)and then his dad dies and he goes off his meds. In order to get him help, Stu, Phil and Doug agree to drive him to Arizona to go to rehab. So far so good. We have a plausible reason for these four character to get back together on a road trip. Quickly their car is hijacked and they are kidnapped and told that they must hunt down and capture Mr. Chow, who has escaped a Bangkok prison and stole 21 million dollars worth of gold from Marshall (John Goodman). He takes Doug for collateral and we are left with our original trio to hunt down a serious criminal. This is the first flaw of the film. These films work because the characters do ridiculous things without remembering having done them. We were never really meant to see them do these things. Here though, we are supposed to believe 3 "regular" guys are going to hunt down a criminal, and aid him in breaking and entering and kidnapping? It just does not work for me. They track down Chow convinces them to help him get the gold with him so he can return it to Marshall,. He, of course, double crosses them and takes off. The guys found out, they did not get the 21 million dollars worth that Chow had hidden, they accidentally helped Chow take the other 21 million and now they have to go to Vegas and hunt him down again.

There are a myriad of problems with The Hangover 3, but the biggest one is THE COMPLETE LACK OF HUMOR! Pretty much everthing I laughed at in the film, I saw in a trailer. The movie takes itself so criminally serious that I forgot I was watching what was supposed to be a comedy. These characters so great at reacting after the fact, that they do not often get to react as this stuff is happening. Also, it is funny watching a guy react to having a face tattoo, or that he had sex with a transexual stripper, but watching his reaction shot to a guy getting murdered, just is not funny. I do not want to watch Alan, Stu and Phil hunt down a crazy criminal, I want to watch them play sleuths as to what happened during a crazy night of partying. It was as if the stakes in this movie were too high for what we want from this series. My second biggest issue was the over use of the Chow character. In small doses in the first and second films, Chow was funny. Here, he is just whiny, annoying and a bit of a drag. There is never time where he really comes off like a crafty criminal, but here we are supposed to believe he is just that? Give me a break. Ken Jeong, in general, is one of those comic actors I only want in limited screen time. His appeal is short lived and if he lingers just a little bit too long, I get annoyed to a serious degree and he is all over this movie. Plenty of his screen time feels adlibbed in the worst way too. For instance, him eating dog food. It is not needed, it is not funny and it adds nothing whatsoever.

The best moment of the film probably comes from a sweet moment between the newly added Melissa McCarthy character and Galifinakis. They share a scene that moves from kind of funny, the gross, to surprisingly sweet, and then they get to share another moment near the end that wraps up the film. We do not get a fun cameo from Mike Tyson, the Heather Graham cameo is a total waste of time and effort and Mike Epps as Black Doug is totally wasted. They even waste John Goodman. That is the original sin of cinema. DO NOT WASTE JOHN GOODMAN's time and effort! The man makes movies better, he is not to be used in such nonsense. I saw the movie on Saturday night and I could not quote you one line that was not in the trailers. The Hangover was full of these killer quotables and memorable scenarios. This film has none of that. To make matters worse, the film ends, and then they have a quick little scene that is funnier and more in line with the first two movies than the rest of the actual movie. I want the movie birthed out of the in credit scene. Give me that Hangover 3, not this weak ass movie. Ugh, talk about going out with a fizzle.