The Hangover Part III would be an unqualified success if it wasn't for one nagging problem: the plot. Yes, a large part of the fun of the original The Hangover (and to a lesser extent The Hangover Part II) was watching the unraveling of a wild night no one remembered, but the humor flowed naturally out of the narrative. It was clearly a one-off project, but the massive, out-of-nowhere success of director Todd Phillips' comedy practically mandated a sequel in Hollywood's eyes (see also The Matrix for another example of this phenomenon). Some people berated The Hangover Part II for largely repeating the first film's story beat-for-beat, but that mattered little to me. Bottom line: the sequel was still consistently funny and envelope-pushing. Now, with Part III, while the camaraderie of Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) remains fun and easygoing, the uninspired, occasionally dragging "thriller" plot finally becomes the series' undoing.
Phillips wanted to take the Hangover series in a new direction, but this is one of those cases where "new" doesn't necessarily translate to "better." Instead of a bachelor party bringing the Wolfpack back together, we have an intervention staged by Alan's brother-in-law, Doug (Justin Bartha). After an incident where a drunk-driving Alan causes a giraffe to be beheaded on the highway (only in a Hangover movie would this possibly make any sense), his family and friends decide it's finally time to get our bearded friend some serious, life-changing help. Phil, Stu, and Doug drive him toward a mental clinic in Arizona, but they're quickly intercepted by a mafia-type gang led by Marshall (John Goodman). As it turns out, Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), the Chinese criminal from the first two movies, has escaped prison and stolen a large sum of Marshall's money. Knowing the Wolfpack's friendship with Chow, Marshall kidnaps Doug and delivers the other three an ultimatum: bring Chow to justice in three days or Doug dies.
The first two Hangover movies not only delivered laughs throughout their running times, but they were cleverly constructed and never ran low on comedic momentum. The same cannot be said here, where the laughs are only sporadic (and mostly in the movie's first half), and large stretches of the film drag without even provoking a chuckle. Many set pieces here, including a scrap with wild fighting chickens, a madcap car chase in Vegas, and the eventual confrontation with Marshall, are almost yawn-inducing. It's a little like a lesser episode of your favorite TV series, where the story is simply there. It's not painful or poorly made, but neither is it especially entertaining, and the filmmakers mute a lot of the humor in a misguided attempt to develop it. The first two Hangover movies spent a lot of time on the edge, practically daring the MPAA to slap them with an NC-17; this time around, everyone seems to be going through the motions.
Humor is subjective, and while those who found the main characters irritating, dislikable, and chauvinistic in the first two movies are unlikely to change their minds here. I for one like my comedy dark and edgy. Being an asshole is not inherently funny, but for whatever reason or another, Alan and Chow make this type of character work. The funniest material in The Hangover Part III comes not from envelope-pushing sequences (with one notable exception), but from individual lines of dialogue highlighting how clueless Alan is about everyone and everything around him. A scene early in the film where Alan presides over his father's funeral is unquestionably mean, but also laugh-aloud funny. Similar comments can be made about scenes featuring Melissa McCarthy's character. Is it a spoiler to say that she's the perfect match for Alan?
After sputtering through its quasi-thriller plot for about 45 minutes, The Hangover Part III ends with a bang: a hilarious and inspired mid-credit sequence that amazingly succeeds in outdoing the "photo album" credit scenes from the previous two films. More than a few viewers will be wondering why the movie didn't use this little gem as the springboard for a Hangover story instead of the half-baked fluff we're left with for a majority of the running length. If the test of time for comedies is how quotable they are, The Hangover Part III doesn't quite measure up.
Phillips is on the record stating that this is the final installment of the Hangover franchise. Although the movie's final scene allows for more, is there any way that yet another installment wouldn't feel stale and obligatory? Then again, I could have said the same thing after Part II. In the final analysis, while The Hangover Part III isn't the disaster many critics have labelled it, it won't be remembered fondly. Let the Wolfpack gulp down their final shots and rest in peace.
Rating: **1/2 out of ****
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