Movie Review: The Hangover Part III

It's been four years since we first met the Wolfpack in the over-night hit, The Hangover. In those four years, the guys have left Vegas, gone to Bangkok and now come back again. After the failure that was The Hangover II, many are cautious about paying their hard-earned money to see the latest, and supposedly last, installment. Did we think it was worth it? Read on to find out!


PLOT

The biggest criticisms of the Hangover II were that it was a complete rehash of the first movie. I was VERY happy to find that director Todd Phillips and company have heard our collective cries and have taken this third film in a completely new direction. The guys have staged an intervention for Allen who has gone off his meds and is getting crazier. Allen agrees to let Doug, Phil and Stu drive him to a facility that will help him. On the way, they are ambushed by a very angry John Goodman. I won't spoil things for you, but just know that Goodman's character has a connection with the first film. Yes, that means this film does not have an actual hangover involved, but the way the Hangover III ties both of the previous movies together and makes them feel like part of a real trilogy is very impressive. I was also caught pleasantly off guard by many of the satisfying plot twists.

DIALOGUE

I am extremely surprised by the amount of laughs this movie has. The dialogue and chemistry between these characters has never been better. My only gripe was that the film is very much centered on Mr. Chow, a character who is not very funny anymore. Since the first Hangover, Ken Jeong has gone on to show how funny and versatile he can be which makes his return to this very limited character disappointing. Other than that, everyone else is firing on all cylinders.

VISUALS

Visually, The Hangover III looks a lot like the first film. Gone is the sort of dark gritty tone of the second film. The camera work is mostly standard but a few ambitious shots thrown in really switched things up and once again surprised me.

CHARACTERS

As I said, the Wolfpack is at its best in the Hangover III. Each character plays their role beautifully and, at this point, just seem like old friends. However, Mr. Chow, as I've also said, is just not funny to me. But with his character being the thread that ties all three movies together, I kind of just had to watch around him. Luckily, the addition of John Goodman's character adds something fresh to the formula and of course Goodman himself nails the role perfectly.

COMEDY

I didn't expect to laugh as hard as I did during this movie but the filmmakers finally figured out the parts of The Hangover formula that we wanted to see again: the characters, not necessarily the story. If you liked the first one, I think you will love the third installment. Personally, I think it may actually be better than the first one.

DUSTY'S SCORE - 8 out of 10