Review: The Hangover Part 3 ★★

The Hangover franchise finally comes to a close with a disappointing whimper in Part III. Following the fantastic success of the first and the even more impressive success, though undeserved, of the second; Todd Phillips brought the "Wolfpack" back for a final outing. 

The "Wolfpack" of Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Doug (Justin Bartha) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) are brought back together by the death of Alan's Dad. They are soon holding an intervention for Alan, who has been off his medication for a number of months, and planning to drive him down to a rehabilitation centre. En route, they are abducted by Marshall, played by John Goodman; a mafia man with a vendetta against Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong). He wants our 'heroes' (I use the term loosely) to locate Chow and bring him in. He also takes Doug hostage until they do find him, signalling the end of Justin Bartha's involvement in the crux of the story. Naturally, the adventure of finding Chow is far from simple; car chases, mafia hits and heists that all end with the gang back in Las Vegas. In fact, the film's more notable elements were the occasional nods back to the escapades of the first film. It seems Phillips wished to bypass the second film which, despite its incredible box office success, was a misogynistic, racist atrocity. 

However, whilst the adventure sounds like it should be an entertaining and humorous thrill ride, it is actually a huge disappointment. It feels like Todd Phillips made the ill-advised decision to pursue a darker route, focused more on action than the light comedic bearings that were so successful in the original Hangover movie. The action storyline is far too linear and basic to make it stand out as an action film but the jokes are far from funny enough to pass it off as a successful comedy. It's a movie that feels subdued.

Also subdued are the characters that have been so loud and brash in the previous films. The most obvious is Chow whose exceptionally flamboyant arrogance is certainly toned down, which tones down the laughs and leaves the weak plot far more open to scrutiny. Perhaps the muted nature of Part III comes as a result of the fallout after Part II? 

It isn't just Chow that was neutered though as Phil and Stu, previously so sharp and unafraid, are left with horribly limp jokes. The script is so hollow for the pair that more than half of it seems to consist of swearing rather than actual constructive dialogue that moves the story along. However, Galifianakis is still the quirky, possibly deranged, Alan; a sociopath that we have grown to love. It is his character that provides us with the only laughs of the film, of which there are enough to only count on one hand. It is one of the cameo performances from Melissa McCarthy that actually brings some quality comedy to the 100 minutes and she is hardly used, which is a crying shame. 

The Hangover Part III is better than its immediate prequel. However, it is a far cry from the groundbreaking original. It wasn't funny enough to call itself a true comedy but Phillips does not, at least in this outing, have the nous to pull of a clever action movie either. It is an ironically sober affair that lacks the comic bite of The Hangover but, thankfully, lacks the darkly racist jokes of Part II.