Justin Bartha Archives - Sean Kelly On Movies

It is the epic conclusion of the saga of the Wolfpack with The Hangover Part III. After the death of his father, Alan (Zach Galifianakis) has fully gone off the deep end. This results in Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and Doug (Justin Bartha) staging an intervention and they prepare to drive Alan to a treatment centre. On their way, they are intercepted by a group of gangsters, lead by Marshall (John Goodman), who has a grudge to settle with Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong). Due to Alan’s “friendship” with Chow, Marshall tells the Wolfpack to find him – taking Doug hostage as collateral. This sets the gang off on one final adventure, which will eventually bring them back to the place where it all started – Las Vegas. One of the major criticisms of The Hangover Part II was that it was essentially a complete rehash of the plot of the first film. As such, The Hangover Part III goes in an entirely new direction, which includes doing away with the actual hangover premise. The plot now centres on the cat and mouse game with “frienemy” Mr. Chow, who is fully elevated to lead character status after memorable appearances in the first two films. With the gang returning to Las Vegas, many characters and events from the first film are directly referenced. This includes a touching scene of Alan reconnecting with the baby from the first film – who is now four years old and living with his former escort mother (Heather Graham). In many ways, this film is more a sequel to the original film than The Hangover Part II, the events of which are all but ignored in this film. While there is still plenty of lowbrow humour in the film (animal lovers won’t like an incident in the first five minutes), the film actually attempts to build-up a heartfelt goodbye for these characters. This is particularly true for Zach Galifianakis’ breakout character of Alan, whose character arc involves him learning to grow past the immature buffoon he was for the entire series. In addition, Phil and Stu finally start seeing Alan as a true friend (rather than an annoyance) and Alan even finds a possible love interest (played by Melissa McCarthy). Overall, despite straying from the very hangover premise the series is named for (though, on the note, you should stay during the end credits), I thought that The Hangover Part III was a fun conclusion to the saga of the Wolfpack. While the edgy and ridiculous humour of the film might not be for everyone, I for one quite enjoyed myself.8 | LIKED IT

The Hangover Part III

The Hangover Part II

The Hangover

National Treasure: Book of Secrets