Toy Story 3, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and Return of The Jedi are some of the most well reviewed films of the last 30 years. They are considered great films despite being the third film in a successful franchise. The Hangover III won't go down in history as the worst threequel of all-time, but it definitely forces itself into the discussion with characters that haven't changed one bit since the first film and a stale formula that expired about 5 minutes into Part III.

One of the things the things the film has going for it is its return to gags that center themselves around the repartee (if you can call it that) between the three major characters. Too bad this film forces Leslie Chow down our throats for the majority of the 100 minute running time, whom I have deemed the Jar Jar Binks of comedy films. Okay, maybe he's not that bad, but part of the charm of Mr. Chow in previous Hangover installments was the fact that he showed up when we least expected it.

The story unfolds after Allan's (Zach Galifianakis) father (Jeffrey Tambor) suffers an apparent heart attack and dies. The rest of the group, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha) and Stu (Ed Helms) decide that this is as good a time as any to help Allan clean up his life and send him to rehab. Allan agrees and from there you can guess that things don't quite go according to plan. Do they ever?

Like the third part of any movie series, new characters must be introduced in order to keep things fresh and we get that in the form of John Goodman whose villainous Marshall seems to almost be in a different film entirely. You're never quite sure if he is to be feared or not and that's never a good thing. Plenty of familar faces reprise their roles from the first and second films to put a bow on the series (though it's more like a steak through the heart of an undead monster). The action movie elements that have been added feel forced and do at worst give the movie a different feel but ultimately they don't add much to it other than momentary shock value.

The Hangover III felt like a really bad hangover. By the end of it my eyes and head hurt and I just wanted to go to sleep.

Final Grade: D