RBR: The Hangover Part III

A lot of people spent a lot of time griping over The Hangover Part II, knocking it for being basically a carbon copy of the first film. While I felt the criticism was a bit overblown, I understood it given how much people loved the first film. Despite the complaints, the fervor for the series was still there to encourage everyone to make a third film. So it was to my surprise that Part III came and went with hardly any discussion at all. There was no anger, yet no proclamations of the series returning back to form. It seemed odd until I finally had a chance to watch the film for myself and see that this was basically a Hangover movie in name only. Sure the members of the Wolfpack are all back but there is no blackout drunkenness nor the hilarity that goes along with it. This plays more like a straight forward action thriller than it does a comedy. I almost wonder if director Todd Phillips made this film out of spite. As if to say that if people didn't want a repeat of the first movie then he would give them the complete opposite. The plot centers around Doug getting kidnapped by a drug dealer (John Goodman) who won't release him unless the rest of the Wolfpack brings him Mr. Chow, who has stolen a large amount of money from him. In their quest to find and capture Chow, the film attempts to provide some closure to the events of the first two films, but none of it yields very many laughs. In fact the biggest laughs come from the post credits scene which most closely resembles something you would have seen in one of the first two films (perhaps lending more credence to my spite theory). At this point, it seems that the book has finally closed the Wolfpack. It is a shame that they chose to do so in a way that leaves the audience feeling wounded and hurt rather than howling with laughter. Rating: ** 1/2