The Hangover Part III

Sadly, I hadn't started this blog when I saw The Hangover Part II and therefore, I can't consult my review of it in preparation for writing this critique of The Hangover Part III. Not that this much matters as the painful memories from that film are still strong. Crass, vulgar, homophobic, racist and offensive are some of the words which spring to mind when considering The Hangover Part II. Anyway, to say my expectations for director Todd Phillips' third outing with the Wolfpack were low, would be...um, hugely accurate.

The IMDb plot summary for The Hangover Part III begins: 'This time, there's no wedding. No bachelor party. What could go wrong, right?'. And herein lies the first problem with the film. No-one has a hangover until after the credits! This happens to be the least of our problems, however. I'm not going to go through the plot because that will mean wasting more time on this film. Suffice to that the Wolfpack is reunited through the most contrived of plot points and the result sees the film become more of a thriller/action film rather than a comedy. It does neither well.

The overwhelming feeling I experienced when I watched the film was boredom. The film has the engaging energy and dynamism of a static caravan and with jokes about as funny as a blocked toilet. For a comedy, it does remarkably well at being totally unfunny. I didn't laugh once. Indeed, the film suffers from a fundamental lack of humour: comedic set-up is non-existent and it's as if the jokes were written by committee. Zach Galifianakis' annoying and socially-inept Alan felt tired and relied too much on character traits which were established – and quickly became boring – in the previous films. And then there's the character of Mr Chow (Ken Jeong). It's not even worth getting angry about.

You're probably thinking that it's just me: I don't find things funny that most normal people do and in reality, The Hangover Part III is a very funny, nice end to the trilogy. Indeed, two out of the three other people I saw it with found it hilarious. But they're wrong. In so many ways. The film washes over you and suffocates you with its lethargic, unfunny script and attempts to beat you into submission with the character of Mr Chow. In many ways, I'd love to get angry about the film; I'd love to berate its suffocating lack of laughs; I'd enjoy criticising its reliance on ill-judged characters and plot; I'd try my hardest to convince you from not going to see such a poor excuse for entertainment. But really, it's not worth it. I even got the impression that Todd Phillips didn't want to be doing the film either. But that's what you get if the previous film takes $586,764,305: a depressingly dull sequel.

I'm going to stop there because I've already spent enough of my life considering this hulking failure of a film/thriller/comedy...whatever you want to call it. Bradley Cooper has done some fantastic stuff recently but it is genuinely dispiriting to see him return to Vegas. I've come to the conclusion that having a hangover is infinitely more enjoyable than watching this pathetic film. Let's never mention it again. 

Clapperboard Rating: *