The Hangover Part III

The Wolfpack return for the final instalment of The Hangover trilogy: a highly anticipated ending to the four-year stint of mayhem brought about by four regular guys with an extreme penchant for doing the right thing, the wrong way.

Directed once again by Todd Phillips, The Hangover Part III follows very much in the same template as the previous two instalments.

However, rather than being a direct copy and paste job, Phillips has ensured an innovative plot line and of course some brand new misdemeanours for our Hangover heroes.

Alan (Zach Galifianakis) needs help. Since taking himself off his meds and his father’s passing, the erratic behaviour of one quarter of the Wolfpack is a cause for concern.  Staging an intervention, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Doug (Justin Bartha) head towards the stabilising facilities of a rehab centre in Arizona with Alan in tow.

Not far into the desert and the men are compromised; Doug is kidnapped and, with the threat of fatality, taken hostage. But the bad guys have a certain dilemma that, it would appear, can only be solved by Phil, Stu and Alan. The result is a renewed zest for life in Doug, while the remaining members of the Wolfpack set off on their latest adventure.

It isn’t long before Phil, Stu and Alan are united once again with their beloved Las Vegas, surrounded by drugs, prostitutes and everyone’s favourite angry Asian gangster, Mr Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong).

There are new faces in the form of Cassie (Melissa McCarthy), who plays Alan’s love interest, and the film’s villain, Marshall (John Goodman), but on the whole The Hangover III has ensured it dishes out much of the same with its regular faces.

Alan’s role is pivotal in this film and his relationship with Stu and Phil is its highlight. The overall storyline does lack real substance but the previous films hardly boasted a solid body, simply delivering good, plain fun.

Although, going for an epic finale it doesn’t quite cut the mustard as a stand-alone film. However, as the American Pie series did before it, The Hangover Part III will leave enough of a dent in pop culture to deem it worth watching.

After the 100 minutes run time is up, stick around for the end credits to witness a beautiful little sting that really sums up Phillips’ handiwork and will leave you hanging with laughter!

Jennifer Atkinson

The Hangover Part III is released nationwide on 24^th May 2013.

Watch the trailer for The Hangover Part III here: