The original Hangover was not just a financial success, but it successfully launched the careers of Bradley Cooper and Zack Galifinakis. They were relatively unknown actors, but familiar faces that I personally didn't believe were bankable when it came to a summer comedy. It was rated R, it looked like a newer version of Dude, Where's My Car and I thought it would just come and go without a second glance. I was wrong, obviously, because The Hangover went on to become the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time. So, naturally the powers that be thought it would be a great idea to put out a sequel as fast as possible. It was honestly, a smart idea, because who wouldn't want to see another adventure with the Wolf Pack? Well, writers didn't exactly realize that while viewers wanted another Hangover film, they didn't want the same Hangover film. The second installment brought our boys to Thailand where... exactly the same events of the first film happened. They were drugged, they lost the fourth member, they were lost, instead of a baby it was a monkey, instead of a missing tooth it was a tattoo, and so on and so forth. We literally watched the same movie, with the same jokes, in a different location and the result was, well... disappointment. Sequels to successful films are given the difficult task of continuing on a story that has (almost always) been concluded in the previous film. What's not supposed to happen is recreate the same story again. So, when everyone learned that lesson, they announced The Hangover Part III specifically mentioning that it would be a brand new story.
I thought that the film would be "apology" film for messing up so bad on the second one. It was the unnecessary second sequel, but was simply put out to apologize to viewers for leaving them with a sour taste in their mouths about the franchise. It was kind of like the Ocean's 13 to the abysmal Ocean's 12. The first Ocean's film was a beautiful heist movie set against the neon lights of Vegas. Then, they tried to do a second one, which was almost exactly like the first one except not even as close as clever in a different location. So, they brought it back to Vegas for Ocean's 13 which was a good film, but didn't successfully capture the magic the first film brought, This is exactly the problem with The Hangover Part III. While the filmmakers and writers certainly learned their lesson from the second film, they couldn't really capture the magic of the first film. I think it's probably because these guys' story was fun and unique, but it's not something that these guys would really get themselves into over and over and over again and still be funny.
This time around, we've got the Wolf Pack concerned about Alan (Galifinakis) when he's stopped taking his medicine and got himself into a deep funk after the death of his father. So, Phil, Stu and Doug opt to take him to a mental hospital in Arizona. On the way they're intercepted by cronies that work for the villainous Marshall (John Goodman) who has been scammed by Chow (Ken Jeong). Marshall kidnaps Doug and tells the Wolf Pack that they need to bring Chow to him or Doug would be killed. So, while it's not the same formula of the previous two, poor Doug (Justin Bartha) still doesn't get to be a part of the fun.
There are a lot of fun call backs to the original two films including characters from the first returning as well as the epic return to Las Vegas, but in the rest of the movie a lot of the laughs fall flat. It almost looks like they were trying TOO hard to get laughs. And while there are a good amount of laughs, including one that had me in stitches, the movie will basically be exactly as you expect it to be. If you're excited about Part III, then you'll probably go in with an open mind and allow the film to give you those few and far between guffaws, but if you're over the antics of the Wolf Pack, chances are this isn't going to be the installment to bring you back.
Galifinakis looks like he's having the best time in the role of Alan, but it's almost overboard. He's become almost too unruly, too weird, to actually think that these guys would genuinely care this much about him. Bradley Cooper looks like he's just there as a favor to the fans, but is more or less above this type of film. And Ed Helms is severely underused in the role of Stu, the guy who brings back the group to reality, always bringing to light the true ridiculousness of the situations they constantly find themselves in. While it's certainly not the worst way to go out, it's that harsh realization that maybe everyone involved should've just left The Hangover alone after the success of the original. That way, there's nothing bad that can be said about a film that will, most likely, define the comedies of the late 2000s.
C
No comments:
Post a Comment