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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
You
know that sinking feeling you get when you realize you’re watching a bad movie?
I felt it kick in around the 10 minute mark in The Hangover Part III, after two
scenes played out beat-by-beat as they did in the trailer. No added story
elements or alternate punchlines – the exact same scenes. The ratio didn’t
change much for the next 100 minutes. If you’ve seen the ads, you’ve basically seen
the movie.
Obviously,
marketing and production are two completely different departments. But a critical
aspect of comedy is the element of surprise, so it doesn’t help when the
trailer gives away all the jokes. Another crucial component is actors who are
invested in the material. The core players in The Hangover Part III – Bradley
Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha – seem like they’re
barely awake. Everything about their performances scream, “I’m just here for
the massive paycheck.”
When
a movie has two strikes against it in the first few minutes, it rarely pulls
out of the nosedive. Even though director Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the
script with Craig Mazin, deserves credit for deviating from the established
template of the previous installments, the story suffers because it places most
of the focus on the franchise’s most problematic characters.
The
film opens with the notorious Chow (Ken Jeong) breaking out of a Thai prison.
Meanwhile, pals Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms) and Doug (Bartha) decide that Alan
(Galifianakis) has been off his meds too long after his oddball behavior causes
the death of his father. They talk him into a treatment facility, but they’re
accosted en route by a gangster (John Goodman) who explains that Chow stole a
lot of money from him. Of course, Alan was the last person he talked to before
his dramatic prison escape. So the gangster takes Doug as collateral and gives
Phil, Stu and Alan three days to track down Chow and the money.
When
I reviewed The Hangover Part II (which I liked more than most critics), I
mentioned that Alan transformed from compelling weirdo to absolute sociopath.
The film reached a point where there was no logical way that Phil, Stu and Doug
would continue to associate with him. The latest sequel does nothing to alleviate
that issue. Characters say his behavior has gotten out of control, but nothing
changes by the end of the movie.
Phillips
and Mazin run into the same problem by giving Chow a more prominent role. In
the first film, he was an amusing and psychotic sideshow. But by making him a
main character, it turns the story into a wacky cartoon in which no one thinks
or behaves logically. Yes, I know it’s a comedy. But the previous entries were
still grounded in some semblance of reality. That’s not the case here.
The
Hangover Part III earns a sliver of goodwill by wrapping up the saga with a
nice bow. Still, it’s not enough to convince me this movie was anything other
than a quick, enormous payday for everyone involved.
The Hangover Part III is rated
R for pervasive language including sexual references, some violence and drug
content, and brief graphic nudity.
Grade:
C-
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