The film follows the "Wolfpack" (Phil, Stu, Doug, and Alan) as they try to get Alan the help he needs after facing a personal crisis, after the bachelor party in Bangkok. However, things go awry when an incident from the original film comes back to haunt them.
The Hangover Part III was announced days before the release of The Hangover Part II and Mazin, who co-wrote Part II, was brought on board. In January 2012, the principal actors re-signed to star. In March 2012, Warner Bros. announced a U.S. Memorial Weekend release. The supporting roles were cast between June and September 2012. Principal photography began in September 2012 in Los Angeles, California before moving to Nogales, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, concluding that November. The film had its world premiere on May 13, 2013, in Los Angeles, California, and was theatrically released worldwide on May 24, 2013, by Warner Bros. Pictures. At the box office, The Hangover Part III earned $362 million against a production budget of $103 million. It received generally negative reviews from critics.
Plot
Leslie Chow escapes from prison during a prison riot in Thailand by digging a hole in a wall.[a] Meanwhile, Alan Garner causes a multi-car freeway pileup after he purchases a giraffe and accidentally decapitates it on a low overpass. Alan's father Sid, furious, dies of a heart attack mid-lecture.
After Sid's funeral, Alan's brother-in-law Doug Billings informs Phil Wenneck and Stu Price that Alan has been off his ADHD medication and is out of control. The group attends an intervention in which Alan agrees to visit a rehabilitation facility in Arizona and seek treatment as long as the "Wolfpack" take him there.
Phil's minivan is rammed off the road by a rental truck and the Wolfpack is taken hostage. They are later confronted by crime lord Marshall. He says that weeks after their shenanigans in Las Vegas, Chow hijacked half of a $42 million gold heist, and, seeing how Alan has been the only one to communicate with Chow during his imprisonment, deduced that they could locate him and retrieve the gold.
Marshall takes Doug as insurance and gives the others three days to find Chow, or else Doug will be killed. Alan sets up a meeting with Chow in Tijuana, where Stu and Phil will hide and attempt to drug him. However, Alan accidentally reveals their location and Chow forces them to confess they are working for Marshall. Chow plans to retrieve the stolen gold from the basement of a Mexican villa he previously owned.
They break into the house and retrieve the gold, but Chow double-crosses them, locking them in the basement, rearming the security system and escaping in Phil's minivan. They are arrested, but mysteriously released from the police station. They are picked up by a limousine and taken back to the same villa they helped Chow break into, where they learn that Chow had lied to them: the villa was in fact Marshall's the whole time and the gold they stole was the other half Chow did not get from Marshall. He spares the group for the oversight but kills his head enforcer "Black Doug" after failing to stop the four and reminds them of their now two-day deadline.
The trio tracks Phil's phone, which was left in the minivan, and find it left outside a pawn shop in Las Vegas. The owner, Cassie, says that Chow traded a gold brick for only $18,000, far less than its actual $400,000 value and gives them a business card for an escort service Chow is using.
Using Stu's former lover Jade as their contact, they learn that Chow is barricaded in the penthouse suite of Caesars Palace. Phil and Alan sneak into his suite from the roof, but Chow escapes, jumping from the balcony and parachuting down to the Strip. Stu catches up to him, locking him in the trunk of Marshall's limousine.
The trio take the gold and meet with Marshall, who releases Doug when they reveal they cannot secure the original half as Chow lost it in Bangkok. Although Marshall had promised not to harm Chow, he shoots up the trunk of the car, presumably killing him.
However, Alan had given Chow a fighting chance to escape from the trunk through a backseat compartment moments earlier and armed him with a gun. Marshall discovers that the trunk was empty before Chow emerges from the limo moonroof and kills him and his bodyguard. Chow spares Phil, Stu, and Doug because Alan saved his life.
Chow offers Alan a bar of gold as a gift, but he turns him down and ends their friendship because of Chow's unhealthy influence on the group. They go to retrieve Phil's minivan from the pawnshop, but Alan chooses to stay and makes a date with Cassie. Six months later, before getting married, Alan resigns from the Wolfpack.
The Wolfpack plus Cassie later stage another wild party that they cannot remember. Stu awakens to find himself wearing a lady's thong and breast implants. Alan remembers that the wedding cake was a gift from Chow, who emerges from the bathroom naked,[b] carrying a katana. His monkey drops from the ceiling onto Stu, startling him.
Cast
Bradley Cooper as Phil Wenneck, a school teacher and leader of the Wolf Pack
Ed Helms as Dr. Stu Price, a dentist and member of the Wolf Pack
In May 2011, days before the release of The Hangover Part II, director Todd Phillips said that "there already are plans for a third film but no script or start date".[5] About the possibility of The Hangover Part III, Phillips stated, "If we were to do a third one, if the audience, if the desire was there, I think we have a very clear idea where that would head. It's certainly not in the same template that you've seen these movies. The third would be very much a finale and an ending. The most I could say about it, what's in my head, and I haven't discussed it with these actors, is that it is not following that template but very much a new idea. As far as where it takes place, I said I'm very open."[6] Also during May, Craig Mazin, who co-wrote The Hangover Part II, entered early talks to write the script for the third installment.[7]
In December 2011, Bradley Cooper appeared on The Graham Norton Show to promote The Hangover Part II DVD and Blu-ray release, where he stated he "hoped" that The Hangover Part III would start shooting in September 2012, and also stated that Todd Phillips was working on the script.[8] In January 2012, it was reported that stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Ed Helms were nearing deals to reprise their roles in the third installment with each receiving $15 million (against the backend) for their participation.[9] In February 2012, Mike Tyson stated that he would return in the third film,[10] although he later told TMZ that "I have no idea what's going on. I'm not in this one."[11]
In March 2012, Warner Bros. announced that it was moving forward with the sequel and scheduled a release date of May 24, 2013, again aiming for a Memorial Day opening weekend.[12] In June 2012, it was reported that the third installment would return to Las Vegas and would shoot on the Las Vegas Strip and at Caesars Palace. The report stated that much of the film would also be shot in Los Angeles and Tijuana and include a storyline that involves the boys rescuing Alan from a mental hospital.[13]
In July 2012, Ken Jeong signed on to return in a significantly expanded role.[14] The following week, Mike Epps entered negotiations to reprise his role of Black Doug.[15] In August 2012, it was reported that Heather Graham would be back to play Jade the stripper.[16] A few days later, Sasha Barrese was signed to reprise her role as Doug's wife, Tracy.[17] In August, John Goodman began talks to join the cast in a small role, then described as an antagonist in the same vein as Paul Giamatti's character in Part II.[18] In September 2012, Justin Bartha said he had signed on to return in the sequel.[19]
Principal photography began on September 10, 2012, in Los Angeles.[20][21] The following week, Melissa McCarthy entered negotiations to join the cast in a small role and Lela Loren was cast as a police officer.[22][23] On October 8, 2012, production moved to Nogales, Arizona, which doubled as Tijuana in the film.[24] On October 20 and 21, a stretch of California State Route 73, a toll road in Orange County was closed for filming.[25] At the end of the month, production moved to Las Vegas for several weeks of filming.[26] Principal photography concluded in Las Vegas on November 16, 2012.[27]
Soundtrack
The Hangover Part III: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack of the film. It was released on May 21, 2013.[28]
In early May 2013, Warner Bros. moved the release date for The Hangover Part III to Thursday, May 23, a day before Universal Pictures released Fast & Furious 6, in an attempt to beat the Memorial Day weekend rush.[29]The Hangover Part III premiered on Monday, May 13, 2013, at the Westwood Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California.[30]
Home media
The Hangover Part III was released on DVD and Blu-ray, on October 8, 2013, in the United States[31][32] and December 2, 2013, in the United Kingdom by Warner Home Video.[32]
Reception
Box office
The Hangover Part III grossed $112.2 million in North America and $249.8 million in other territories for a total of $362 million, against a budget of $103 million.[33]
The film grossed $3.1 million in late Wednesday night screenings, ahead of its wide release on Friday, May 24, 2013.[34] It was projected to earn $80 million in its first four days. The film ended up grossing $53.5 million over its first four days, including $41.7 million in its opening weekend, far below the $135 million earned by The Hangover Part II in its opening days.[35][36]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Hangover Part III has an approval rating of 20% based on 206 reviews and an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Less a comedy than an angrily dark action thriller, The Hangover Part III diverges from the series' rote formula, but offers nothing compelling in its place."[37] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 30 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[38] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the trilogy.[39]
Describing the film's negative reception, Variety speculated that the series had become critic-proof.[40]
Andrew Barker of Variety gave the film a negative review, writing, "Ditching the hangovers, the backward structure, the fleshed-out characters and any sense of debauchery or fun, this installment instead just thrusts its long-suffering protagonists into a rote chase narrative".[41] Barker seemed to think that it was 'debatable' whether The Hangover Part III should be considered a comedy at all, seeing as its events 'more often plays like a loopily plotted, exposition-heavy actioner.' He states: 'That the plot is convoluted and ridiculous isn’t really a problem, but by playing things completely chronologically — and worse, soberly — this film’s shenanigans feel witlessly arbitrary in a way that the previous installments avoided.'[42]
Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Young viewers looking for unbridled raunch will be sadly disappointed, and so will other moviegoers expecting more than a few wan chuckles."[43] Steven Holden of The New York Times called The Hangover Part III "a dull, lazy walkthrough that along with The Big Wedding has a claim to be the year's worst star-driven movie."[44] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times said, "I'm not sure who let the dogs out this time, but they should be made to pay."[45]Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Director Todd Phillips delivers a film so different from the first two, I'm not even sure it's supposed to be a comedy."[46]
Christy Lemire of the Associated Press gave the film a positive review, writing, "The Hangover Part III runs a different sort of risk by going to darker and more dangerous places than its predecessors, both artistically and emotionally. It dares to alienate the very audience that made The Hangover the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time."[47]
