Sunday, October 13, 2013

Movie Rental Review: Hangover 3



Unfortunately, I still have not seen Hangover 2 yet. But like most everyone else, I did see the first one, and it was hilarious! There were points where I was tearing up, laughing so hard!

Now, I know that sequels often try to duplicate the success of previous movies, only to usually fall far short of the mark the second or third time around.

That said, I was expecting this movie to definitely have it's moments. I mean, it was unlikely that it would be quite as funny as the first (and presumably the second), but it would surely have it's moments, right?

And it did. it did indeed have it's moments. But it seemed there were far too few of them. It just was not anywhere near as funny as I had hoped, and even kind of expected.

The thing was, it seemed almost like they were not trying to make this a funny movie. For quite long stretches of time, the movie seemed almost serious in tone, which was a bit surprising. Frankly, a little disappointing, as well.

Don't get me wrong: I like serious movies. But not under the umbrella of the "Hangover" movies. Sorry, but that is one thing that just didn't mix well.

Most of the movie is fairly serious, with some funny one-liners and ideas sprnkled in. Again, it does have it's moments. But the humor here is far more reserved, and it never quite takes off and lets itself go, like it did with the first movie, when you truly got a sense that the humor was really flying, and there seemed almost no limits.

Frankly, it seemed that this could hardly be classified as comedy. And let's be honest: most people either already saw this movie, or are going to see Hangover 3, wanting and expecting comedy. And on that score, it just doesn't deliver.

This is not a terrible movie. Nor do I mean to imply that there are no funny moments: there are. But after a fairly rich sprinkling of funny moments in the very beginning, what funny moments there are seem more or less like diversions from the far more serious theme. It feels more like an action, or suspense, with the occasional forays into laughter.

All that said, there are moments of real comedy. In particular, Zach Galifianakis shines at times. But most of the movie seems to relegate comedy to the backburner, while it focuses on other things. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it just seems like you should get fair warning, if you expected differently.

I will say this, though: what is probably the funniest part of the movie actually comes after the movie is over. That's right: as incredibly as it may seem, the most dangerous and daring humor comes during the credits at the end. It is a glimpse at the old Hangover movie, that relentlessly made people laugh with a reckless abandon, unafraid to take chances or offend people.

It is probably the only such moment in this movie, which makes this, in my opinion, nowhere near as memorable or enjoyable as the first one, I'm sorry to say.

No comments:

Post a Comment