The Hangover Part III feels like pretending to be drunk at a funeral. In an attempt to modify the formula that made its predecessors all so popular, this third chapter shifts drastically in tone. The crazy drunken shenanigans have been replaced with beheading a giraffe, suffocating a chicken, snapping the necks of dogs and witnessing a heartless murder. Blatant animal cruelty aside, this "comedy" lacked laughs and general entertainment, thus resulting in a boring conclusion to a mildly humorous trilogy. "The Wolfpack" are forced to find Mr. Chow who has escaped from prison in Bangkok ('Shawshank Redemption' style) and stolen a vast amount of gold from a criminal kingpin. Understandably, director Phillips and his crew altered the direction that this film would take in order to prevent a carbon copy of the original (much like its sequel was). However, in doing so he has removed the essence of mild hilarity that made its predecessors so watchable. There is no hangover, there are no regrettable decisions and there are no laughs to be had. The consistency in characters remains adequate, with the narrative focusing on Alan in an attempt to further develop the character who was (emphasis on "was") the funniest of the bunch. Cooper looked like he couldn't be bothered and Helms, as I've said in my previous reviews, still remains irritatingly dull. Aside from Goodman who was strangely captivating, the lack of new characters makes this crime caper even more monotonous. And no, including McCarthy did not help. Yet again, the inclusion of Chow felt forced just to provide a few laughs that were had in the original. The pacing was decent though, the story moves along at a brisk pace visiting locations of new and old. But overall, this third chapter lacks the humour from the previous two and, to an extent, is so purposefully changed that it loses itself. Atleast it concludes satisfyingly, so hopefully there will not be another sequel. Yet much like the stench of any alcoholic beverage, I'm sure it will come back...
