Where the comedy fails, the action will keep you entertained

Rating: 4/10 (25 May 2013)

The now infamous "wolf-pack" needs no introduction. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis return for the third and final sequel of The Hangover. Breaking the pattern of the first two films, the story doesn't begin with a bachelor party and morning after hangover wherein the pack is left to try to recall what happened the night before and find the missing wolf. The Hangover III begins instead with a funeral.
A funeral is a good way to introduce it's audience into this much darker world the wolf pack finds themselves in. Thankfully the comedy doesn't seem as desperate, trying to squeeze laughs out of us with shock and disgust, as the previous sequel did. No, Part III focuses more on a revenge story filled with almost non-stop action.
The original Hangover film is a classic and introduced the world to the genius that is Zach Galifianakis. It was fresh, original, shocking and hilarious fun. The Hangover II was not only one of the weakest sequels ever made but also one of the saddest excuses for a comedy. It lacked any originality and came off more as a bad remake than a sequel. For instance, instead of Las Vegas it was Bangkok. Instead of a baby, they had a monkey. Instead of a rooftop, it was an out-of-order elevator. The only bits that weren't the same as the original, as I mentioned above, were additional low-brow shocks.
The Hangover Part III, though not nearly as bad as the second film, still doesn't stand out as a great comedy. In fact, it's more of an action/thriller with some very dark comedy mixed in thanks to Zach Galifianakis' character. What truly holds the film back is the character of Mr. Chow, who, as in the previous films, is as irritating and degrading as a character can get. He only works as a villain yet it seems director Todd Phillips isn't sure whether to make us hate Mr. Chow or glorify this cocaine-loving, sexual deviant with absolutely no redeeming qualities.
The funniest part of The Hangover III is that as an action/thriller, it is better than anything else Hollywood is currently producing in the genre. So where the comedy fails, the action and thrills are guaranteed to keep you entertained. It's also refreshing to see a Hollywood film with action that doesn't seem to be secretly funded by the CIA.