The Missing Ingredients

Rating: 5/10 (27 June 2013)

The first installment of The Hangover trilogy was hailed as the ultimate guy's movie of the year 2009. After watching the final installment of the trilogy, I have reason to believe it will not be the ultimate guys' movie this time round because it is missing a few ingredients that we got used to from the first two movies:
1. No Hangovers: None of the characters in H3 actually experiences a hangover and I think this works against the movie. It is just like calling a movie "Penguins of Madagascar" yet the movie has no penguins and no scenes from the serene island of Madagascar. In the first two installments, the characters suffer from a serious hangover and they try to reconstruct the events of the previous night to help cover up their mess: many guys find themselves in this situation from time to time and that is why we could relate to these movies.
2. No Physical Injuries: Unlike H1, where Stew plucked out his own tooth and Doug got baked in the sun when his friends carried him with his mattress to the rooftop and forgot him there, or H2 where Stew got a tattoo (which we learn he had to have removed in H3), Allan shaved off his hair and Stew's brother in law lost a finger, there are no injuries worth noting in H3. Dudes get injured and carry such scars with pride, its part of being a man.
3. No animals: Apart from a few seconds with Allan's giraffe and Chao's cockfighting chicken, H3 lacks significant roles for animal characters. H1 had Mike Tyson's tiger and H2 had a drug dealing monkey which liked to smoke. Guys like animals, a man-cave is incomplete without a stuffed animal hanging on the wall, we name our teams after animals (Chicago Bulls, Super Eagles, Raptors, Cubs.The Wolfpack.!)
4. No Mike Tyson: The first reality check in H1 occurs when Allan gets knocked out cold by Mike Tyson as Mike sings to Phil Collins' "I feel it coming in the air". And in H2, he sings at Stew's wedding and we learn that he has remained in contact with Allan. Furthermore, Stew gets the same tattoo across his face that is a Mike Tyson trademark. I think that most guys are boxing fans and having a boxing legend like Mike Tyson boosts the movie's credentials as a guy movie.
5. No Photo Slideshow: Both H1 and H2 have a segment at the end that features a slide show of photos they took the night before. The photos are then deleted after one viewing to avoid trouble with their spouses. They could have at least shown Allan's bachelor party as a slide show. Which leads to my last point:
6. No Bachelor Party for Allan: I believe that Allan was the real star of The Hangover trilogy and it was his blunders that made the story in the first place. The first and second part of the story revolve around bachelor parties, which is usually the most unforgettable night of a soon-to-be-husband's life, but the most interesting character in the whole story doesn't get one. I think most guys will find this disappointing.
That is why I say it will be hard for the movie to cut it as the ultimate guy's movie for 2013. Other movies like The internship (Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson) might beat it to the top.