The Hangover Part III

If an above average original film surprises audiences and scoops up plentiful box office treasures you can be assured to see the film stem sequels hoping to replicate the originals success. Seen in 2009 after ‘The Hangover’ thrilled audiences with its sudden surprising success and low budget, a sequel was released two years later to worse reactions helming a plot identical to that of its predecessor. Completing the franchise is this year’s ‘Hangover part 3’ which instead boasts a different plot with the ‘wolf pack’ back to handle the totally hilarious issue of Alan’s mental illness, and this time fails to include an actual hangover as well as any elements of surprise and also any genuine humour.

Alan (Zach Galifianakis), the staple character of the previous two films is the initial centrepiece of this films narrative, being taken by the loveable group of friends to a mental home in order to recover. Being boasted in the films vast advertising campaign ‘This time, there's no wedding. No bachelor party.’ Instead we begin with an undoubtedly bleak funeral which certainly sets the tone for the film which proves to be just as unenjoyable. Being a camp, fun loving comedy necessity in the previous two films, Alan seemingly transforms over a short period of time into an immensely irritating man with the presence of an annoying ten year old child reluctantly being towed along by friends Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms). This leaves Mr Chow ( Kim Jeong) in the comedic driving seat, used only sparingly in the previous films but now used and abused until his brutishly insulting humour smothers every corner of the screen, only occasionally to good comic effect. This leaves nothing but the non-existent humour of Cooper and Helms to entertain the audience, consistently resulting in overwhelming auditorium silence due to the films poor screenplay.

So with the lack of jokes what better to fill the film with obnoxious action scenes and totally irrelevant and uninteresting scenes of drama between characters we don't even cared about? Believing it’s something much bigger and better than it clearly is ‘The Hangover part 3’ consistently delves into the deeper lives of characters we do not wish to know about resulting in awkward scenes of drama which lead to nothing and hold no comedic value or even dramatic impact. The lack of effort here is blatantly obvious being arrogant and in your face, with the opportunity to mix up the series and put a fresh spin on the franchise we thought we knew, director Todd Phillips instead prefers to stick to linear guidelines creating no comedic opportunities.

Disappointing is an obvious word to use to describe this film however this is almost expected of Hollywood that simply solely care about box-office intake rather than audience satisfaction. The fact is that ‘the Hangover part 3’ is a very boring and dislikeable film that holds very few redeeming qualities. It’s very rarely funny, rarely thrilling, and in no way surprising. It’s just depressingly unfunny.

3/10- As much fun as a hangover.

Calum Russell