The surprise box office dud of the summer. Fast and Furious 6 (or is it 60?) mopped the floor with it last weekend, but the jury’s still out on whether or not it should have.
What Works: It’s better than the 2nd film, but worse than the first one, which should surprise no one. It really works more as an action-caper than a comedy film, as I might have laughed maybe 5 times during the whole thing. Most of the “laughs” (which are just outrageous sight gags) are in the trailer, so you’re really just spending some time with some characters you like. It’s like a final reunion with some friends you might never see again and might have outgrown. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
What Doesn’t Work: I was glad that they didn’t use the same format for this one as the first two, but I think the core audience also wishes there had been more outrageous gags and wild, crazy fun. These movies are about guys getting together and having a great time, and——–except for the post-credits sequence——-this film has none of that really. What it does have is a near-toxic dose of Ken Jeong’s Chow, who monopolizes this installment to an absurd degree. Chow’s just too limited a character to let him hijack the film this way (he worked for about 5 minutes in the first Hangover, and quickly wore out his welcome in the second one) and this installment suffers from a lack of new characters.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Why not let the whole thing be Allan’s wedding to Melissa McCartney’s character and let him have his own wild bachelor’s night? Only let us experience it with them instead of recapping it the next day.
Wow, who watches these movies to get anything out of them other than a laugh.?/