★★★★☆
Our journey with The Wolfpack has been quite and adventerous and exciting ride.
Four years ago, we were introduced to Stu (Ed Helms), Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis). Alan, the lone wolf, adopted the three friends into his group, creating what we know as "The Wolfpack". Their adventures are wild and crazy, and the people they meet are an eccentric bunch, ranging from escorts to international criminals to InterPol agents.
[spoilers ahead]
This wouldn't be a "Hangover" film if the guys weren't going on some crazy adventure, and they were on quite on an adventure in this film.
After the death of Alan's Father, Sid (Jeffrey Tambor), Doug proposes that Alan's closest friends and family set up an intervention for Alan, who's been off his medications for over six months. Alan is at first intrigued by the idea and is willing to go to this treatment center (named "New Horizons"), but as he decides that maybe this isn't such a good idea anymore, they encounter the source of their adventure in this movie, and the source of their escapades from the first movie. Meet Marshall (John Goodman), the supplier of the drugs that Black Doug (Mike Epps) accidentally sold Alan in the first movie. That's not why Marshall is there, though. He needs the Wolfpack to find Chow (Ken Jeong), who stole from him gold worth millions. As insurance, he keeps Doug (poor Doug), and orders Alan, Stu, and Phil to find Chow and his gold within the next three days.
While this is still within the "comedy" genre, it's swayed away from the purely "comedic" quality of the first film, and the "comically shocking" quality of the second film. An espionage element is introduced, and this film certainly contains more action than the two previous films. I liked the action element of the film, and while some of the moments should have been suspenseful, most of it wasn't nail-biting or edge-of-my-seat intense. The only parts that shocked me were the deaths of Black Doug and John Goodman. I actually thought that Doug was going to get shot, too. I didn't think they were going to kill Doug, but part of me was convinced something worse was going to happen to him. This film was definitely a bit darker than the first two, and those moments really highlighted the darkest and most intense moments of the film.
Just based on the trailers, I already knew this film would be different than the first two. After the second film came out, and up until a few months ago, the main rumor that was spreading around was that the premise of this film would be that Doug, Phil, and Stu would be helping Alan escape a mental institution. That rumor was half-true, surprisingly. While Alan never made it to the place in Arizona, he certainly got away with not going there. Chow's storyline could have easily been wrapped up in the second film, but I wasn't surprised he returned in the third film.
While there hasn't been much character growth in these films, these characters have seemingly gotten closer because of all the shenanigans they've gone through. (And, based on one scene featuring a double date between Stu, Phil, and their wives, these shenanigans have been top secret between the four of them.) The actors that have portrayed the four main characters have grown as actors in the past four years. Maybe it was because he had shot "The Place Beyond the Pines" and "Silver Linings Playbook" in between the second and third films, but I could immediately see a difference in Bradley Cooper's acting in this film. He's said many times how much he loves these films, and loves being a part of them, so perhaps he was just really happy to be back on set and wanted this film to be especially special. Everyone really did their best on their film, and they all seem to enjoy working on this. Their performances weren't Oscar-worthy, but they continued to bring these characters to life.
I wasn't overall disappointed with this film. Sure, I wish there were more hilarious moments. I did laugh a lot throughout the film, but most those laughs were merely simple chuckles. One of my favorite moments was Phil's initial interaction with Chow in Tijuana. I wasn't too fond of the extended ending. (It airs about 30 seconds into the credits.) I think what turned me off the most was the fact that Stu had gotten breast implants. In true Todd Phillips and "Hangover" spirit, of course that bit of "shock factor" was thrown in.
Would I recommend this film to people? If you've seen and liked the first two films, then yes, do go see this! If you haven't seen this... Yes, this could be a standalone film, and you wouldn't need too much knowledge of the first two films to see this one. Unfortunately, if you walk into this theatre, completely unknowing of the events of the first two films, then you might be left confused about why this trilogy is so popular.
So, to "The Hangover", to "The Wolfpack"... "toodaloo, muthafuckas".
Watch the trailer here:
Four years ago, we were introduced to Stu (Ed Helms), Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis). Alan, the lone wolf, adopted the three friends into his group, creating what we know as "The Wolfpack". Their adventures are wild and crazy, and the people they meet are an eccentric bunch, ranging from escorts to international criminals to InterPol agents.
[spoilers ahead]
This wouldn't be a "Hangover" film if the guys weren't going on some crazy adventure, and they were on quite on an adventure in this film.
After the death of Alan's Father, Sid (Jeffrey Tambor), Doug proposes that Alan's closest friends and family set up an intervention for Alan, who's been off his medications for over six months. Alan is at first intrigued by the idea and is willing to go to this treatment center (named "New Horizons"), but as he decides that maybe this isn't such a good idea anymore, they encounter the source of their adventure in this movie, and the source of their escapades from the first movie. Meet Marshall (John Goodman), the supplier of the drugs that Black Doug (Mike Epps) accidentally sold Alan in the first movie. That's not why Marshall is there, though. He needs the Wolfpack to find Chow (Ken Jeong), who stole from him gold worth millions. As insurance, he keeps Doug (poor Doug), and orders Alan, Stu, and Phil to find Chow and his gold within the next three days.
While this is still within the "comedy" genre, it's swayed away from the purely "comedic" quality of the first film, and the "comically shocking" quality of the second film. An espionage element is introduced, and this film certainly contains more action than the two previous films. I liked the action element of the film, and while some of the moments should have been suspenseful, most of it wasn't nail-biting or edge-of-my-seat intense. The only parts that shocked me were the deaths of Black Doug and John Goodman. I actually thought that Doug was going to get shot, too. I didn't think they were going to kill Doug, but part of me was convinced something worse was going to happen to him. This film was definitely a bit darker than the first two, and those moments really highlighted the darkest and most intense moments of the film.
Just based on the trailers, I already knew this film would be different than the first two. After the second film came out, and up until a few months ago, the main rumor that was spreading around was that the premise of this film would be that Doug, Phil, and Stu would be helping Alan escape a mental institution. That rumor was half-true, surprisingly. While Alan never made it to the place in Arizona, he certainly got away with not going there. Chow's storyline could have easily been wrapped up in the second film, but I wasn't surprised he returned in the third film.
While there hasn't been much character growth in these films, these characters have seemingly gotten closer because of all the shenanigans they've gone through. (And, based on one scene featuring a double date between Stu, Phil, and their wives, these shenanigans have been top secret between the four of them.) The actors that have portrayed the four main characters have grown as actors in the past four years. Maybe it was because he had shot "The Place Beyond the Pines" and "Silver Linings Playbook" in between the second and third films, but I could immediately see a difference in Bradley Cooper's acting in this film. He's said many times how much he loves these films, and loves being a part of them, so perhaps he was just really happy to be back on set and wanted this film to be especially special. Everyone really did their best on their film, and they all seem to enjoy working on this. Their performances weren't Oscar-worthy, but they continued to bring these characters to life.
I wasn't overall disappointed with this film. Sure, I wish there were more hilarious moments. I did laugh a lot throughout the film, but most those laughs were merely simple chuckles. One of my favorite moments was Phil's initial interaction with Chow in Tijuana. I wasn't too fond of the extended ending. (It airs about 30 seconds into the credits.) I think what turned me off the most was the fact that Stu had gotten breast implants. In true Todd Phillips and "Hangover" spirit, of course that bit of "shock factor" was thrown in.
Would I recommend this film to people? If you've seen and liked the first two films, then yes, do go see this! If you haven't seen this... Yes, this could be a standalone film, and you wouldn't need too much knowledge of the first two films to see this one. Unfortunately, if you walk into this theatre, completely unknowing of the events of the first two films, then you might be left confused about why this trilogy is so popular.
So, to "The Hangover", to "The Wolfpack"... "toodaloo, muthafuckas".
Watch the trailer here:
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