Why I Saw It: I honestly don't know. The second one was such a let down that there was no goodwill left. Curiosity, perhaps.
Cast: I have only seen the previous movies once each, so I could be wrong, but I remember Bradley Cooper's Phil being more of a dick. Cocky, at least. He's a pretty standard good guy this time and not all that entertaining. Ed Helms as Stu is also more bland. He's still the coward of the group, but now it's just whiny. I think part of that is him being worn down by the previous movies, however it doesn't make for good comedy. The movie seems to think that Zach Galifianakis can make something funny by just being there, but he needs some material to work off, which he didn't have. Justin Bartha, again is so underused that he doesn't seem worth mentioning. I'm glad that Ken Jeong has found success playing Chow but has never been a draw for me in the series. More of the same from him this time. Others like Heather Graham, Melissa McCarthy, and John Goodman are also so barely used that I don't have anything to say about them other than "more, please".
Plot: They finally dropped the blacking-out conceit of the first two movies, which I appreciated. This time it is much more straightforward. They are hunting down Chow and find themselves in Mexico, and, of course, Vegas. There's not a great deal more to it than that. They have to reach out to some old friends along the way (and some new ones). There's a couple big sequences in there and a fitting alternative to the pictures they show at the end. Not a lot here though.
Elephant in the Room: Is it funny, at least? No, and that's the odd thing. The first movie was original and funny. The second tried to do the same thing but bigger. This one is determined to be something different. But, what I realized is that these are not naturally funny characters. They can be funny, often as a reaction to the crazy world, but they aren't funny by themselves. There's a basic story to this movie, but not a lot of effort to put jokes in it.
To Sum Things Up:
After the misfire of Part II, this movie had to be better, and it was. For the most successfully comedy movie franchise since Beverly Hills Cop, it's a shame to see that it let's up on the comedy and tries to be a standard caper/action flick. This is one of those movies that I can't imagine anyone loving because it is so far of from the DNA of the one that people went insane for and doesn't add anything to it. In short, this is what you get when you remove the hangover from The Hangover.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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