“Hangover III” Wolfpack Returns for ‘Epic Finish’

May 23, 2013 by Tom Ferda 

Published in Film Trailers Magazine May 23, 2013

It’s been four years since “The Hangover” became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture in Comedy. In that film, one of the craziest foursomes to ever hit the big screen took audiences on a bizarre trek through Las Vegas. A trek that featured bong hits, a naked Asian jumping out of a trunk, Mike Tyson’s pet tiger in a penthouse suite and pole dancers. Two years later the ‘Wolfpack’ took their loyal audiences on another memorable ride through the foreign region of Thailand in “The Hangover Part II”.

“The Hangover Part III” is the third and final film in director Todd Phillips’ record-shattering comedy trilogy. In this epic conclusion to mayhem and immoral decisions the guys must finish what they started by going back to where it all began…Sin City.

Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon

Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon

After mixing copious amounts of alcohol with Roofies and deserting every ounce of their dignity and morals in their first two journeys, the guys have “matured” a bit, purging files and lasering off tattoos. So Part III begins with Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Doug (Justin Bartha) living uneventful happy lives at home. That is until the group’s black sheep, Alan, played by Zach Galifianakis, lands back into their lives to stir things up. Audiences have grown to love how Alan’s lack of brain filter leads to constant chaos and we get the feeling the character will again not disappoint in Part III.

Part III takes the Wolfpack and their nemesis Leslie Chow, played by Ken Jeong,  south of the border and then back to the original scene of the crime for the saga’s conclusion where their lives were first upended. But what they remember happening in Vegas ends up being only half the actual story.

“There’s a lot of action and comedy, a heist, a road trip, and an element of mystery, too, as we touch on certain things that weren’t explored before but were always part of the undercurrent of the two previous films,” said Phillips. It brings everything together and wraps it up with an ending that follows its own logic.”

Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Craig Mazin who collaborated with Phillips on “The Hangover Part II” screenplay, teamed up with the director again to ink the Part III script. “We uncovered a chain of unfinished business that arcs through all three movies for a final story that doesn’t just end on its own, but ends all three,” explained Mazin. “Something happened in the beginning, although few caught its significance, and that thing is going to come back to haunt the guys and start them down a path of what will be, in many ways, their most difficult and challenging journey of all.”

“With us it always starts with darkness, because that heightens the comedy,” added Phillips. “It’s essentially a fish-out-of-water story for these guys who don’t belong in the situation they’ve been thrown into, so the fun is in watching them struggle and trip their way through it.”

Joining the main cast are Heather Graham as Stu’s first wife, Jade; Jeffrey Tambor as Alan’s father, Sid and John Goodman, who plays a new nemesis named Marshall.

Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon

Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon

The first two Hangover movies were blockbusters and shattered worldwide box office records to the tune of $1 billion combined. So with Phillips again behind the lens and instrumental in writing the storyline and script for Part III expect a crazy final ride that again brings truckloads of cash to the studio.

“Todd is our captain. We just follow him into battle,” said Helms who played Stu the conservative dentist who lost a tooth and married a stripper while on a drunken stupor in “The Hangover”. “At this point, it’s safe to say these characters have been to hell and back…I was excited to read the script for ‘The Hangover Part III,’ to see what was in store for them. I kept turning pages and thinking, ‘No way, are you kidding me? Where did that come from?’”

When you listen to that quote from Helms and Todd Philips adding, “We’re going for a truly epic finish,” it’s hard to doubt that Part III will be anything but.

Contact Tom via email: tom@tomferda.com
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