The Hangover Part III

The Wolfpack is back, for one final adventure - and this time, the plot is actually new.  When Alan causes a major freeway accident (it involves a giraffe and an overpass), his father suffers a fatal heart attack, and his friends and family decide that it's time for him to go away to get well.  As Stu, Phil, and Doug take him to the looney bin, they are run off the road... by Black Doug (remember him, from the first movie?)  In fact, the whole plot of this movie hinges on the first two films (especially the first one - they pick up on very minor pieces of dialogue from that film and make them into plot points here).  Ken Jeong is back as Mr. Chow, who is just as crazy as ever (perhaps even moreso now).  We also have the return of Jade the Hooker (from the first film), as well as her son.

Although nowhere nearly as good as the first film (which is as much a "popcorn classic" as films such as Star Wars and Casablanca), Part III is a great improvement over the second film, which was just a rehash of the first film set in the Philippines.  This time around, the humor is MUCH darker (often venturing into the realm of black comedy), with a surprising amount of violence for a gross-out comedy.  Also notable is the fact that the humor is slightly less juvenile than in the first two films (although whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of personal opinion - after all, even Benjamin Franklin loved a good fart joke).  Most interestingly, however, is the fact that we get some character development from Alan - he actually matures a bit during the film, and even takes responsibility for some of his actions.  It's pretty touching, in some ways.

While the humor here is hit-or-miss (primarily "hitting," though), Part III serves as a worthy finale to the trilogy.  Don't get up as soon as the end credits start to roll - there's a quick (but absolutely priceless) scene just after the initial cast list.

Rating: 80/100

Additional Note: There was one scene I simply could not stand to watch.  To put it bluntly: I am not epileptic, but I swear to God, said scene probably would have given me a seizure.  Also, I now understand why they banned that one episode of Pokemon with the missiles and the flashing lights (which is nowhere NEARLY as bad as the scene from the movie I'm discussing).