Now that it's different, why is everyone so up in arms?
"Critics" are lambasting director Todd Phillips and the third Hangover film for a multitude of reasons; claiming it isn't funny or not what they wanted. In a recent interview with Variety Magazine Phillips gave a big "F U" to those who hated the second Hangover film, and I feel like he's got a special finger for skeptics again.
The final film in the drunken odyssey known as The Hangover trilogy is very much the period at the end of the sloshed, chaotic, absurd sentence. A point was made when the third film was announced by Phillips and writer Craig Mazin that they were not going to follow the formula of the first two films. I can tell you that they have made good on that promise.
In fact, this film is so different from the first two, it's almost unrecognizable in terms of being the last of three films in the same series, aside from the fact that all the familiar funny faces have returned. That's not a bad thing; just an odd caveat that really stood out to me. It's almost laughable to think "hey the first film was great, but the second was a carbon copy so I hated it...now the third film is so different I can't wrap my head around it, so I hate it too..." That seems to be the stream of consciousness from early critic and fan reviews, and to that I simply say, GET A CLUE.
We begin this film not in a hotel room or waking up with tattoo's and missing teeth but with Alan (Zach Galifianakis) seemingly spiraling out of control. He's 42-years-old now still living with his well-off parents, not taking medication and bursting through doors demanding Oreo smoothies. When his father suddenly dies, the wolfpack come to his side for an intervention and try to take him to a rehab center in Arizona. Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Doug (Justin Bartha) pack into a mini van and head off with Alan to try to fix his ways. Of course along the way they are ambushed by the evil Marshall (John Goodman) and his pig faced goons as he is in search of the $21 million in gold that Chow stole from him.
The Hangover Part III along with being Alan's vehicle has a sub story that very much, if not too much, involves Chow and his devious ways. Here is where the film annoyed me a bit; in the first two films Chow was a fun side piece to the wolfpack, in the third film he's more so a featured character and it really takes away from the main group we've come to love. At times Chow even overshadows the wolfpack, and there’s only so much of his flamboyancy and accent one can take. Chow's escaped prison and secretly found his way to Tijuana where Alan, Phil and Stu go looking for him to bring back to Marshall, (who obviously took Doug as collateral) of course more shenanigans ensue and we get the most action packed Hangover film of them all.
You have to commend Phillips, who on the set of The Hangover Part II was kicking around ideas for the third film that had the trio wake up in a daze again, basically bucking the trend saying, "YES! In fact this can happen to the same group of morons for a third time." While Phillips has been criticized, the franchise has done great numbers for Warner Bros. and now that he has taken the film is a vastly different direction fans are angry again. I think all this proves is no matter what you can't please everyone, ever.
I want to go on the record to say that Part III is not on par with the first film which is a classic in comedy cinema, but it's better then the second one and provides a ton of big laughs with a great amount quotable lines, much like the first film. The mark of a great comedy is if you're recalling and reciting lines from the film once it's done and you're walking out of the theater, that was the case here.
The biggest difference between the first two films and the third is that this isn't about being drunk and putting together pieces of the night. There is no hospital, or monkey, or mattress on the roof. Part III is all about the consequences of the first Hangover, which stemmed from Alan and the roofies. The laughs are certainly there, even if there is more drama in the film along with a lot more action and hysteria. We get one of the best moments in film, in my opinion of 2013, not exaggerating, when Alan and baby Tyler A.K.A. "Carlos" from the first film reunite. It's such a funny, genuinely touching moment that you don't expect from this big dimwitted caveman that it melts your heart.
Automatic bonus points are awarded to the film for not following the formula of the first two, and the fact that it's so radically different, while still being consistent in laughter and grandiose moments is one Phillips and co. should hang their hat on. Fans of the first two films will go see this one so that's not the people who need convincing, it's those who were so angry after Part II that they get sick at every trailer on TV for Part III.
By no means is Part III a flawless film. The tone throughout shifts drastically on the comedy scale from awkward funny, IE: moments between Alan and pawn shop owner Cassie (Melissa McCarthy), or misused comedy like Goodman’s Marshall character to typical Hangover greatness sprinkled in large doses over the 100 minute run time.
The Chow impact is drastic in the film as it takes a toll on our three main characters. They walk to the beat of Chow’s drum as his storyline of finding the gold, running from Tijuana to Las Vegas, which makes the film a lot more dramatic then it probably needs to be. Obviously the greatness in the trilogy has been watching Stu, Alan and Phil navigate their way through the most bizarre situations, and highlights of Part III occur when such is the case. From repelling down Caesar’s Palace to running through the desert or watching Alan sing at his father’s funeral these are quintessential Hangover moments. Phillips and Mazin focused too strongly on Chow and gave his storyline too much merit. Ken Jeong’s character worked so well in previous films in small doses, so it really became tiresome this time around. When you take the focus directly off the wolfpack the audience struggles to stay engrossed in the product.
The rule for Chow in Part III is the same one that applies to Doug in all three films. There’s a reason why Doug isn’t involved with Phil, Stu and Alan, he’s not interesting and no one cares. No one cared about him in the first film, until the end, and he was a nonfactor in the second film and now third film. So when your character isn’t in the spotlight, like Chow in the first two films, throwing him into the bright lights takes away from the reason you got this far as a franchise to begin with.
The star of the film no doubt is Galifianakis. His emotional turmoil in the story simply leads to effortless comedy. The portrayal of Alan is one of the great characters in comedy and one no one will forget. Galifianakis has the ability to bring down the house with a simple smirk or use of the word “brah” or even the casual act of enjoying a ring pop. It’s killer comedy. We see Alan vulnerable yet he’s such a doofus that while you feel for him, he’s always a split second away from doing something beyond outrageous. Remember when Stu told Alan in the first film “you’re literally too stupid to insult”…yeah, that hasn’t changed, and that’s what makes Part III work.
Make sure you stay in your seat as the credits roll because there’s a great post credit scene that is one of the funniest in the entire trilogy. If you’re not laughing hysterically, there’s something wrong with you.
While this is the third film and our main characters have all evolved in someway, the one constant is when the wolfpack is together, bad things happen. And bad things are generally funny things. If this truly is the final time the band of blood brothers get together to howl in the night then I say they bid us farewell in hilarious fashion.
If Part III shows us anything it’s that the unexpected greatness of the 2009 original was its spontaneity and freshness. Since then comedies all over Hollywood and even it’s own sequels have been trying to recapture that magic only to fail over and over again. As the Hangover saga comes to a close it’s best we remember the floories and tiger, tooth and tattoo and have one last drink with our favorite band of misfits.
Rating: B-
throughout the entire movie.
