Review: The Hangover Part III

The finale of the Wolf Pack saga. The end of Alan (Zach Galifianakis)'s goof-ups. The last misadventure with roofies.

Well technically, there wasn't any misadventure with roofies here (SPOILER ALERT!). They were all hungover after the movie, when the credits were rolling. After Zach got married to Cassie (Melissa McCarthy), that's when things got hazy. That's because the whole movie adventure really didn't involve any hangovers to begin with. It got kickstarted by Marshall (John Goodman) kidnappping Doug (Justin Bartha).

A.k.a. "The dude who always doesn't get to join the (mis)adventures.

The Hangover Part II

Basically, it's almost the same as The Hangover Part I. But instead of Vegas, it's in Bangkok.

Honestly, there weren't as many laugh-out-loud moments in here compared to the first one. This sequel in my opinion was kind of darker, more criminal, in a way. There were even Russian mobsters and a drug-dealing monkey. Also, a severed finger. Eeewww.

And I don't know when Alan (played by Zach Galifianakis) became such an asshole. I don't think he was that bad during the first film. Here, he's just a total douche. Funny, yes. But still a douche.

"Am I?"

Justin Bartha still doesn't get any action. Just like the first film. Though he's not the victim here. He's just a wuss. Or maybe because he's married. Which still makes him a wuss.

"You can tell I'm a wuss because my wife is taller than me."

Stu the dentist (played by Ed Helms) got his shining moments. He is, after all, the bridegroom. But at what expense? Putting the "cock" in Bangkok, that's what. It almost made me want to throw up.

Bradley Cooper=Man-crush. No words necessary.

Kaboom.

Jamie Chung didn't get that much screen time. Probably because she was the bride. And this is a guy flick. So don't expect any chicks in here.

Lovely.

Ken Jeong is back as Mr. Chow. Still as annoying as before. But he's still funny. That cameo from Iron Mike Tyson was entertaining, but at the same time, terrible. He already took singing lessons for his few minutes of screen time. But it was still pretty much off-key. No, not pretty much. Very off key. Paul Giamatti's cameo, on the other hand, was fantastic.

So this got me thinking: If they do The Hangover Part III, will it be Zach Galifianakis who gets married then? That would probably be a riot. And I hope they set it in Europe. Not in a city that reminds me so much of Manila.


The Hangover Part II. USA. 2011.


Rating: Six and a half out of ten.



*some info from IMDb
pics from YouTube, All Movie Photo, and I Heart Flicks



You may also want to check out the reviews of The Hangover from Sting Lacson and Cholo Mercado.

Post-Industrial Cosmology: The Hangover Review

Relativistic hedonism could be described as the perennial philosophy of our age, contrary to the word of the Second Vatican Council, and this being so, then perhaps the meaningless debauchery of The Hangover is nothing less than the practical application of our common wisdom; and it is through this lens that I have come to see that perhaps The Hangover is a model for post-industrialist cosmology, a myth explaining the workings of the absurd universe as it exists cut up from all influence and origins: One must only consider two things: It is in Vegas, away from the consequences of their past lives and reputations, and the main action of the film occurs without memory of the cause, such that we are left only with the effects, the pure mechanisms of the universe, the motion, as it were, without the push.

So what is the primordial stuff of which the universe is made, according to the film? Chaos, of course. Vulgarity, crime, and rudeness in such huge proportions that, as the protagonists saw, if they are to let themselves run without their conscious faculties, they will more likely end up tossed around in meaningless, violent absurdity than dead. Obviously, there is no profound message to be found in The Hangover, and this lack leads us to its single assertion: Reason is undone. Somewhere, sometime, humans were left to their freedom, and succeeding this, between two points is not a determinate line but a scattered path of tigers, retired boxers, babies, lost teeth, strippers, Chinese gangsters, and so forth; and from this unruly universe, as the dictum goes: Hilarity ensues.

An eight out of ten.



You may also want to check out the other The Hangover review from Sting Lacson.

The Hangover

First of all, this is quite a good film to watch with your family while waiting for Christmas Eve dinner.

That said, this is, surprisingly, one of the most subdued American comedies I've seen in quite a while.

You can't deny the slapstick roots of American comedy, especially in the movies. But The Hangover more or less follows the comedy style of Judd Apatow, which goes for more cerebral comedy. Although the overall look of this film is quite similar to a Judd Apatow flick, it's not.

I'd also have to commend the filmmakers for not relying on famous names to bring out the laughs. Heck, except for Justin Bartha, I've never even heard of the major characters. But we do have some famous cameos, like Heather Graham as that stripper who married the dentist, and of course, "Iron" Mike Tyson, who, after all these years, has still got it. The knockout punch, I mean.


*some info from IMDb
pic from The Miday Masala


The Hangover. USA. 2009.


Rating: Eight and a half out of ten.



You may also want to check out the other The Hangover review from Cholo Mercado.