The first Hangover film was a irreverently funny film that unexpectedly made a lot of money in 2009. Strike while the iron is hot, so a Part II came 2011, with practically the same story set in another city. Despite that bad sequel, there is now this Part III another two years later. I still say it should have ended with the first movie.
The Wolfpack, namely Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Doug (Justin Bartha), decides to help Alan deal with his mental problems by bringing him to an institution. However, on the way there, their car was attacked by a gang led by Marshall (John Goodman). Marshall told them that since Chow had been in communication with Alan, he wants the Wolfpack to get back the gold bars Chow had stolen from him before. So the boys track Chow to Tijuana and then back to Vegas for another crazy misadventure after the other.
The movie went by so fast that when the ending comes, you will wonder where the time went. The plot here was so thin, you felt you watched nothing. Part III was more about Alan (Zach Galifiniakis) and Chow (Ken Jeong), two side characters in the first two films who end up with the biggest roles in this final installment. The Wolfpack guys were just supporting here. Bradley Cooper hardly did anything substantial to deserve his top billing. I do not know what the producers were thinking to make that disgusting Mr. Chow practically a lead in this film. He was okay as a minor comic relief in the first film, but his role here is just too much. Seeing Chow suffocating a chicken is simply too annoying for words.
The humor is pretty dark. An animal loses its head in a cartoonish fashion in the very first sequence. Then, someone's dad died. There was NO wedding with a disastrous day-after hangover to recover from at the beginning, so at least they tried to change things. Unfortunately, this new formula was hit or miss, with very few hits. The guest appearance of Melissa McCarthy as Cassie from the Vegas pawn shop is quite delightful though, despite her brief screen time. It was good to see Heather Graham there again, as well as the baby in the first movie now a big boy.
Ironically the biggest laughs were reserved for an extra scene in the middle of the ending credits, and no, it was not only a funny photo album this time. So stay seated for that one final scene in order to make up for the feeling that you got ripped off watching the rest of this shallow film. This is NOT the epic finale that they claim. 4/10.
I must agree with you, I do like the first and second installment. The finale was not just worth it. And so I rate it as Okay also. Never in my mind that I considered it very good.
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