The Hangover Part III

Who would have known that a bachelor party in Las Vegas could have turned into an epic trilogy of films.
'The Hangover' was a comedy that succeeded where many have failed. It managed to marry a very clever plot device with crude humour. Most films with crude humour did not have that type of clever plotting and instead relied on juvenile plotting, like guys trying to get drunk and/or have sex. As is the way of Hollywood when something is successful you try to replicate it and so 'The Hangover Part II' was an exact replica of the original except set in a different location. Despite that familiarity the film was a huge success and so a third film was commissioned. Thankfully Todd Phillips and his team listened to the criticism of the second film and so came up with a different plot for the third film. I think that Todd must be commended for that and I think that the plot here is one of the film's stronger points. Sadly though he has not been able to bring as many laughs as he has in the past. Most of the humour stems from the outrageous behavior of series favourite Mr. Chow and his crazy antics have become so second nature that they do not seems as outrageous as they once did. Alan is also part of that too. His childlike behavior has been a mainstay of the series too. That was one of this film's stronger points is that it tries to address this part of Alan's behavior. So while there are some good points going for it the film lacks many of the big laughs that the first films had. I also think that with some films like this you need to experience it with a big audience. It needs the laugh-track of a massive group like that to help bring out more of the laughs.
Bradley Cooper might be the biggest name on the cast list here but it would seem he had the least to do. These films have become just a paycheck for Bradley so he does not need to try very hard in the acting department. Ed Helms does his usual manic routine which can be quite funny at times. The real star of the film is Zach Galifianakis. His character of Alan is just so well done. The level of stupidity and idiocy is such a finely crafted thing. Ken Jeong gets to explore his Mr. Chow a bit more here and does a very good job. He is very brave for doing some of the more crazy stuff. John Goodman, who seems to be in every film these days, makes a commanding presence as well.
While it does not live up to the lofty standards of the original film, it is far better than the copy-cat second film. It just needed some more laughs or jokes that can survive seeing it with a smaller audience.