Why?

Rating: 5/10 (7 September 2014)

When the studio wants to beat a dead horse they sure do kick the hell out of it. The third installment of the Hangover franchise has audiences asking, "Why?" "What's the point?" and "Did this really need to be a trilogy?" The first Hangover film I thought was great. I thought gold was struck with that concept and those actors. Then The Hangover Part II came out to prove that the first film had been a stroke of luck that couldn't be repeated well in the slightest. And then we come to the raging pointless stupidity that is The Hangover Part III.
Part three of this milked to death franchise begins with a scene that sets the absurd slapstick pace of the movie. We meet up with Zach Galifianakis' character, Alan, who has just bought a giraffe, accidentally knocks its block off with a freeway overpass, which in turn leads to Alan's father's fatal heart attack. Jeffrey Tambor ditched the party before things got completely stupid. It's then decided that Alan needs to go to rehab, and it's the wolf pack's job to get him there. So the gang gets together, but are stopped short by gangsters looking for Mr. Chow, the loud and obnoxious Korean dude from the first two films, played by Ken Jeong who I normally really like, but it just got old here. From this point a whole chain of events are set in motion and the typical Hangover shenanigans begin as the film constantly tries to, just as part two did, one up its predecessor.
There really is no point to The Hangover Part III and it's not good for much more than a few laughs. But honestly, what more can you really ask for. My expectations for this film were set dreadfully low, and I think that helped me to not hate this film, but instead just shrug my shoulders and say "sure, why not."
Don't expect any great laughs though, expect more in the chuckle range. This movie isn't really all that funny, and most of the time it's trying way too hard. The wolf pack lost their natural charisma and charm from the first film, and now it just feels like actors being forced through three increasingly dumb movies. The comedy is no longer genuine, its all full of scripted and forced laughter. The Hangover Part III wants to be fun, it wants to be wacky, and it wants to take you on a ride. The problem is it's too obvious on where it wants to take you, and I just can't get into it. It's silly and mindless entertainment, but I can't deny that by the end I found myself asking, "Why did I watch that?"