The Hangover Part III (Todd Phillips, 2013)
Our four forced friends of Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Alan (Zack
Galifianakis) returned with Chow (Ken
Jeong) for a new adventure with a story centered more on Chow and his
illicit behaviors. Obviously the four get involved with an mortal enemy of Chow
named Marshall (John Goodman) that goes
back to the Part I linked to Black Doug (Mike
Epps) who sold the drug to Alan at the first place.
With the first part being a surprise and a huge hit, part II
was based on the same story line but was still pretty funny and kept the spirit
of the original movie. With part III, writers Todd Phillips and Craig
Mazin put their formula away and tried to do something different without
being too far from the spirit and comedy while staying fresh. However, the
biggest deception is the fact that they so needed their formula that they had
to include one in the final credits. So sad that it is the best part of the
whole movie that it should have been their premise. Even if we feel like Alan and
that the characters are like our old friends and we know that it’s gonna be a
whole lot of fun, it feels like it’s good that it is the final chapter and that
they don’t have something new to bring.
Another aspect of the story that carries it in the bottom is
the bigger part of Chow, an annoying character that should not be central in a
story. His presence in the first part was well dosed but now he has the central
part and it did not help the story. This is a one sided character that plays
like a cartoon. It clearly shows how much the writers were out of ideas for
their central characters and have them interact with a lesser more accessory
one.
Overall, this is the worst of the trilogy and hopefully the
last one. It’s sad that the little first effort would be shadowed by the lesser
movie that is Part III. As a comedy,
it didn’t made me laugh more that two or three times and I didn’t even smile
more often. It was one of the comedies I was expecting to actually enjoy but
unlike American Reunion last year, I
think that adding one more entry was just not necessary. A deception.
Nice review Michael. Can't say I'm too sad to see these characters go away. It's about time. Besides, Bradley Cooper's got an Oscar to win!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dan! Same thing for me for those characters. I dunno if Cooper will ever have the oportunity that Silver Linings Playboook brought him but I'm looking forward 12-12-12 from David O. Russell.
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