The Hangover Part III (Todd Philips, 2013) Review

It's finally time to get on with the latest film in the Hangover trilogy. This is also my third '2013' film...figures it should be the third film of a franchise...after already reviewing Iron Man 3....and Iron Man 3 this is not. I guess it's up to you what that means (how many of you hated the twist in Iron Man 3). Well then, let's take a look at the...I guess long awaited finale to the wolf pack trilogy.

After more of Alan's (Zach Galifianakis) shenanigans (most likely fatal for some), his dad (Jeffrey Tambor) passes away from a stress induced heart attack. Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Doug (Justin Bartha) and their wives all agree that Alan needs to be taken to a hospital to fix his mental issues. On the way there, the wolf pack is intervened by a man named Marshal (John Goodman). Marshal tells them that Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) has escaped from prison and Alan is the only person with contact to him. Marshal kidnaps Doug so that the Wolf Pack will be motivated to find Chow and bring him to Marshal.

I'm not sure that I would label this film as a comedy through and through. It's more of a thriller film. It's not that there's no humour, it's just that there wasn't a funny moment that really stood out as much as a comedy film should do. It focuses more on the narrative (which is different from the other two, thank God), which I admire but that's not what The Hangover should be doing. This will put a lot of people who enjoyed the first two off this one.

Why didn't Stu get a song in this one? Why isn't Mike Tyson in this one? Are you trying to keep this part of the series? I like that there's no actual hangover otherwise it would end up being a rehash of a rehash which would have made this one much worse than The Hangover Part II.  Yeah, this one is better than Part II but is not better than Part I due to the impact it had (okay, it wasn't exactly mind blowing but at least it was different enough to other comedies). The actors are STILL good (and their characters actually have development this time) and the narrative is quite enjoyable.

The Hangover Part III is...okay. It's definitely above average and comes out as the 'middle one' of the trilogy. The first one is the best, then this one and Part II is the worst one of the trilogy. It's kind of hard to sum up the trilogy as it's based on how much you liked the previous two. The ending is an excellent way to finish off the series though so I really hope there isn't a The Hangover Part IV.

Verdict:
6.5/10
A good attempt at ending the franchise but still fails to reach the goodness of the one that start it off.

And based on how you approach it, the credits scene could either ruin the ending (like it did for me so I'm pretending it didn't happen) or make up for the lack of references to previous films.