When The Hangover became the surprise hit of 2009, the concept was simple – in Las Vegas for a bachelor party, a group of friends traversed increasingly outlandish situations after awaking worse for wear and sans groom.
In the 2011 sequel, the same formula was employed as the post-bender antics moved to Thailand, albeit with evident laziness and diminishing comedic returns. Their box office success dictated a third film in the franchise, just as criticism of their similarities motivated a change in the story. Alas, familiarity is still the end result, as a road trip rounds out the series.
In The Hangover Part III, the titular state is figurative, with wild nights and splitting headaches absent. Instead, the feature eschews the outcome of a singular debauched evening to ground its tale in the aftermath of all that has come before; indeed, as the so-called “Wolfpack” reteam yet again, the largesse that inspires the ridiculous escapades is their sum of their shared previous experiences.
Phil (Bradley Cooper, The Place Beyond the Pines), Stu (Ed Helms, Jeff Who Lives At Home) and Doug (Justin Bartha, Dark Horse) have settled down after the events of the first two films, whilst Alan (Zach Galifianakis, The Campaign) remains as eccentric as ever. A well-intentioned intervention for the latter provides the catalyst for their next caper, after a mob boss (John Goodman, Flight) redirects their energies into locating their old friend Mr Chow (Ken Jeong, TV’s Community) and a pile of stolen gold. Of course, after the convoluted scene setting, hijinks ensue.
Though Todd Phillips’ (Due Date) conclusion to his trilogy may frame the expected gags and episodic larks in a different manner, replacing the bleary-eyed, fill-in-the-gaps mystery with a linear, sober, action-heavy romp, the feature proves a hangover in every sense of the word. With little character development evident throughout the series, the change in narrative contextualisation can’t mask the fact that the same stereotypical people do the same far-fetched things with the same tired outcomes – in a more pronounced and over-the-top, less focussed and amusing fashion.
Accordingly, The Hangover Part III has the air of the haphazard and half-hearted that arises in the wake of excess, arbitrarily assembling the usual parts without effort or energy. Performances canvass the exaggerated (the cartoonishness of Galifianakis’ man-child routine and Jeong’s cringe-inducing persona) and phoned-in (with Cooper and Helms overtly disengaged with their roles), matching the tenor of Phillips and Craig Mazin’s (Identity Thief) script. Laughs are few and far between, supplanted with jail breaks, heists and car chases that are competently filmed but lack imagination. An attempt to demonstrate growth can’t hide the harsh reality, with the film exhausted in patience, plot, comedy and creativity.
Rating: 1.5
The Hangover Part III
Director: Todd Phillips
US, 2013, 100 mins
Release date: May 23
Distributor: Roadshow
Rated: MA
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